As many of you know, sometime last year we started holding monthly classes on raw foods, taught by local musician and raw foods aficionado Abby Cahn-Anton. We have one coming up this weekend, as a matter of fact. What you don’t know is – who is Abby Cahn-Anton? What is she all about?
I had the opportunity to find out in the following never-before done interview. What are raw foods all about, what made her change her lifestyle to raw? Has she ever “cheated?” Find out all that and more: Abby Cahn-Anton: Interview with a Raw Foodie.
Tell us a little about yourself.
I consider myself very lucky. My mother made sure I ate healthy food and stayed away from so-called “junk food.” Only small amounts of soda, chips, candy and other heavily processed foods passed my lips during my childhood. I ate lots of fresh fruit and vegetables as well as whole grain bread. Nonetheless, the way I ate as a kid was a far cry from what I now consider to be healthy and I had my fair share of other-than-perfect health. Yet the seeds of wisdom were 
planted. I knew that what I ate was an important part of being healthy.
When I was in my 20s and out on my own for the first time, I became a vegetarian. I noticed pretty quickly that I stopped getting the usual “seasonal” colds and viruses. Now that I’m well into what might be termed “middle age,” I’m able to see that my life has been shaped by a passion for eating consciously. I’m continually upgrading my diet and health practices. Every step of the way I’ve experienced significant improvements in my life. And naturally, other people have been drawn towards me to find out what has worked. After many years of informally helping friends and family I’m now going public, so to speak.
Can you describe what “raw foods” are to someone who has never heard of them before?
I like to think in terms of nature’s design. When a plant is growing, what temperature range is it normally subjected to? On the rare occasions that it gets into the low 100’s here on the East Coast, many plants, especially food crops, become a little challenged. However, in the desert southwest, plants thrive under those conditions. The general rule of thumb is to keep a plant within the temperature range that supports its life. Freshly picked fruits and vegetables are full of life and vibrancy. It would stand to reason that to support our optimal wellness we would choose to eat plants that are in their prime. Nuts and seeds, on the other hand, are designed by nature to be dormant and hold their potential until they have a good location to grow. So they can be stored for longer periods of time before being eaten. However, they have their own particular type of fragility, especially after they have been shelled, so it’s important to store them properly. Another idea to keep in mind is that humans and their domesticated animals are the only animals on the planet that eat cooked foods! When we really start to look at that and question why and how we came to do this, it tends to alter our perception of whether or not cooking is a good idea. Ultimately, in my opinion, the closer we eat to “straight out of the ground or straight off of a tree,” to the point of picking something and eating it right away, the better.
What led you to “go raw?” How long have you been living the raw foods lifestyle?
I suppose you could say it was providence. Actually, Dean was the catalyst. When he opened his first store in Ocean in 1995, Continue reading →
