Botanical cuisine is a form of cuisine using only plant ingredients. Raw Fairies botanical cuisine is raw food, also known as living food or sunfood (although there are subtle differences). It is food that has not been cooked, at least in the traditional sense. A raw food diet would typically be vegan, and include fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as nuts, seeds and some soaked or sprouted grains.

The premise behind raw food is the preservation of enzymes, the key to good health and longevity.
Enzymes are biological catalysts: this means they speed up chemical reactions in our bodies. Without enzymes, our bodies would take weeks and weeks to digest food; in fact, without them we simply couldn’t function at all. Enzymes are proteins folded into complex shapes. If its shape changes, an enzyme may no longer work – it has been “denatured”. The high temperatures reached during cooking denature enzymes, while they are preserved in raw food. So eating cooked food means the body has to draw on its own enzyme reserves for digestion and other metabolic processes. Over time these reserves are depleted – this means we age and succumb to disease more readily.

Also, cooking food depletes it of vitamins and minerals and eating cooked food dehydrates our bodies. In the 1930s a Swiss scientist, Dr Paul Kouchakoff, discovered that eating cooked food leads to an immediate rise in the number of white blood cells in the blood. This immune system response is similar to that observed when the body suffers infection or exposure to toxic chemicals. The reaction is greatest after eating processed, pasteurised and preserved food. Eating raw food does not cause this reaction.

No. Everyone can benefit from including more raw food in their diets. Do it in your own time and only go as far as you can and feel comfortable doing. If you don’t eat any raw food right now, just including a bit of raw food every day will make a big difference. Listen to your body: you may well find that the more fresh, pure, raw food you eat, the more your body craves it.

When we speak of a raw food diet, or eating raw, we tend not to mean sushi or other raw meat such as steak tartar or mahi tuna. Meat is much harder for the body to digest and it can’t use the nutrients as easily as those from non animal foods. Also, raw foodists often choose not to eat meat for ethical or environmental reasons.

Absolutely. With raw food, the possibilities are endless: soups, dips, marinades, crackers, breads, desserts, cakes, cookies and lots more. Some raw dishes do require equipment, but no more than you need to cook food. And for those who aren’t so handy in the kitchen, Raw Fairies can prepare delicious raw food for you!

Yes, eating raw vegan food is the most environmentally friendly way of eating. According to Viva!, when you think of almost any environmental catastrophe – global warming, loss of biodiversity, deforestation, water pollution, superbugs, the list goes on – you’ll find livestock at the heart of it. In a smaller way, using up lots of fossil fuels cooking doesn’t make for an especially green kitchen. People who eat raw often see it as part of living a more natural life in which they try to avoid excessive packaging of food products and recycle amongst other things. And because raw food provides so much energy you’ll feel able to reduce your carbon footprint by walking and cycling more!

Not necessarily. But there are many reasons to choose organic ingredients over those that are not organic. The Soil Association’s top ten are:

1. Better taste
2. Higher nutrient content
3. No nasty additives
4. Avoids pesticides
5. No use of genetically modified (GM) crops or ingredients
6. Antibiotics and other drugs routinely used in rearing livestock are banned
7. No hidden costs of cleaning up the results of food production
8. The high standards required of organic food
9. Highest levels of animal welfare
10. Good for wildlife and the environment.

Go to www.soilassociation.org for more information about sustainable, organic farming.

Ask us by emailing info@rawfairies.com or calling Anya on 07879 246 501. Or take a look at one of the many raw food resources on our links page.