Priority Of Food Preparation

2. Priority Of Food Preparation

Recapping the various stages of raw-food preparation prioritizes them in the following order:

1. The best food is that which is eaten raw, whole, and fresh from the garden or orchard, after a quick washing in clean water.
2. A minimum amount of separation of leaves for washing, or cutting of vegetables, performed immediately before eating, will result in minimum impairment of nutritional value.
3. Cutting up vegetables for a tossed salad, or fruits for a fruit salad, will result in considerable impairment of nutritional value, because every cut edge is exposed to oxidation and loss of nutrients. If such vegetable or fruit salads are occasionally desired, they should be prepared immediately before the meal.
4. Shredding, producing a greater number of exposed surfaces, is even more destructive. If shredding is temporarily necessary because of dental or digestive problems, it should be done at the table, immediately before eating. Attractive, efficient shredders for table use are available.
5. Grinding or blending breaks down the food even more. Sometimes, blended salads may be resorted to as a temporary measure, to tide one over dental, digestive, or other special problems, but the habitual use of blended salads is not advisable. If blenders or food processors are used in the preparation of special recipes, for occasional use, it should be done with the full knowledge that the nutritional value of these foods has been greatly diminished. If this is but an occasional practice and the major part of the diet consists of whole, raw foods, the principal negative will be subjecting the organism to digesting foods which do not provide maximum nutritional return.
6. Juicing foods and discarding all the fiber is contraindicated, except for use in breaking some prolonged fasts or where extreme debility makes the use of juiced foods necessary. The occasional use of juiced fruits or vegetables, in small amounts, twenty to thirty minutes before a meal, isn’t harmful. Habitual use of large quantities of juiced foods is highly inadvisable. Juices bombard the body with large quantities of fragmented nutrients in much the same way as food supplements do, and the effects can be negative and even positively harmful. In addition, the body is deprived of the opportunity to chew, assimilate and metabolize the complete foods which are sources of optimal health.

We receive many requests for special recipes for transitional food programs to provide greater variety in a raw-food diet, and for ideas and instructions in the preparation of special menus and treats. Such menus, recipes, ideas and instruction are therefore included in this lesson.

It is hoped that the student will gradually realize that simple meals are the best, and will come to delight in luscious fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and sprouts. Included in this lesson is a special section on sprouting.