The Cost of Raw

When I first looked into the raw diet, I came away feeling that it was an elitist way to eat and impractical for most people. I still feel that way to a degree, but I can see the benefits of incorporating more raw food into our diet. I am definitely feeling more energetic and younger. :-)

Yesterday I was going all day long preparing for a "Super Nutrition Cooking Class" (which actually showcased several raw recipes) but I never got tired. I was on my feet quite a bit and normally by 4pm I am so tired I have to sit down and rest in front of my TV! But not yesterday. Sometimes you don't realize that things have changed until you have a day like I did yesterday and then you realize that you are feeling much better.

I have not been eating 100% raw or even 80%. Probably more like 60%. Still, I've probably eaten more raw food in the last 3 or 4 weeks, as a percentage of my total calories, than ever before in my life.

OK, I've talked about the benefits of eating more raw food, but what about the costs? Has my grocery bill gone up? Yep! It has. All of this fresh food is expensive, especially when you try to get as much organic as you can. I am guesstimating that my food bill has gone up about 20% this past month. Of course, we have been buying out of season veggies for variety. I can see that when we get a garden going and start picking up our shares from our CSA farm, our costs will go down significantly.

Is it worth it? I'm not sure you can put a price tag on improved health and vitality, but I believe it's worth the extra cost. I've had to cut back in other areas of my budget, but so far we've been able to manage the extra grocery costs.

From the beginning my goal has been to help my husband improve his health so that he can attain a remission of his cancer and not have to endure more chemotherapy. This is a goal that is not under my control so I guess it is not a good goal in that sense. Maybe I need to call it a "hope" and let the goal be to maximize our nutrition to be best of my ability. I suppose my fall back position is that if he does require more chemo, his body will be all the stronger going into it for having eaten this way.