While taking a stroll to Whole Foods on Saturday - my wife and I passed a store called RAW. It looked interesting enough to check out - so we did. RAW is an acronym for:
RAISING AWARENESS WORLDWIDE
It appears that the store aims to raise awareness of the virtues of eating healthy with a particular emphasis on the vegan lifestyle. A vegan diet is definitely not in my future. This, of course, does not preclude me form tasting, enjoying and/or buying specific vegan items. The small shop is owned by two partners - and the one partner we did meet, Polly, was a true dynamo. She was only too happy to answer questions as she was extremely proud of the hard work that she put into making this 3 year old business a success. Healthy eating and nutrition, she said, were her passions, and she was passionate about describing how many food items her business prepared each day at their commercial kitchen which was located a few short miles away, not too far from The United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls.
We tasted some foods that were prepared in small cups to be sampled. Each item that I tasted was delicious. The prepared foods were not sold with nutritional information: calories, carbohydrates, protein, fiber, etc. It was explained to me that each menu item submitted for testing to determine this type of information costs in excess of $1000. This is a prohibitive expense for a small business. I was compelled to try something. I purchased some of the packaged foods also sold in the store.
The package contains seven wraps, and each wrap was only 70 calories. My wife prepared my spinach salad wrapped in the SUNFOOD SUPERFOODS RAW VEGAN COCONUT WRAPS and they were absolutely delicious. I will be buying this product again. It was thoroughly enjoyable.
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Sunday MENU
breakfast oatmeal, pitted dates, apples 600 calories
lunch medjool dates, mango, wasabi peas, almonds, granola 662 calories
dinner Whole Foods Salad Bar, Whole Foods Hot Bar, wasabi 1240 calories
lunch medjool dates, mango, wasabi peas, almonds, granola 662 calories
dinner Whole Foods Salad Bar, Whole Foods Hot Bar, wasabi 1240 calories
total calories consumed 2503 calories
calories burned
elliptical machine 92 minutes, manual, level 20 2243 calories
CALORIES BURNED 2243 CALORIES
Saturday net calories 260 calories
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Saturday net calories 260 calories
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The following comes directly from the 'raw' website: chicagorawfood.com
Originating from the vision of a world enjoying better health, raw strives to deliver only the highest in quality of fully uncooked, 100% plant-based products to an under-served community in need. Through the fresh daily packaging of the simple raw goodness of nutrient-rich ingredients & by educating our patrons, the healing mission of raw is to raise awareness worldwide.
Chicago Raw was started by two savvy foodies at a small farmers market in New Buffalo, MI. Founders, Carole Jones & Polly Gaza, have joined creative forces and set out to raise awareness about the wonderful health benefits of incorporating raw foods into your diet! With gratitude & love, we choose to provide & educate you about the most organic & naturally abundant nutrients we can find. share this journey of health and vibrance as we reflect the beautiful vision of raw together.
Polly lives in New Buffalo, Michigan, with her husband Don Gaza and her two children, Zachary Gaza age 21 and Margo Gaza age 19.
From an early age Polly recognized the importance of nutrition. Running two full marathons and many halves. Losing her father and both of her grandparents tragically to cancer only helped to affirm her belief that bad nutrition plays a key role in the epidemic of mall health we as a people are enduring. She believes the keystone of good nutrition is understanding that its not what you take out of your diet that is important but what you put in it.
Always being health conscious, Polly followed a 40/30/30 plan (zone eating plan) with the majority of her carbohydrates coming from raw foods. She noticed a gradual change for the better the less animal proteins she ate. Mind full of questions she started researching raw food, attending CHI to further her knowledge on the subject, and to get to know the raw food lifestyle. Eating at a local raw food restaurant she ran into Carole Jones, from the moment they met they realized that they both not only shared a love for raw food but the want to share their passion with the world. This “want” expressed itself in raising awareness worldwide, or raw.
Her passion and love for raw food not only shows in her exuberance in talking about her lifestyle, but in the food itself. While good nutrition may seem like an impossible journey remember the words of philosopher Lao Tzu; “the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step” we vow to help you make that first step in the right direction.
Born and raised in Luxembourg, a small picturesque country bordering Germany, France, and Belgium, Carole Jones grew up on rich heavy cooked foods. After falling in love with an American in Luxembourg, she decided to follow her heart and fly to Chicago to start a family. She had a son, Jeremy, who also works with raw and benefits from the raw food lifestyle.
After years of the roller coaster we call life and losing her husband to cancer she hit a slump, amidst this deep depression she came across Anne Wigmore’s book Recipes for a longer life. The book just spoke to her, after a little more research she fell in love with the raw food lifestyle. W. Clement Stone once wrote: “When you discover your mission, you will feel its demand. It will fill you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it.” This sums up how she felt after discovering raw food. She changed her way of eating and her outlook on life; losing 50 lbs on raw food she felt the need to share her calling with others.
On a cold winter’s morning she decided to walk into a local raw food restaurant and apply for a job. A few days later she was contacted and told that there was a vacancy in the kitchen, and that if she was still in need of work could fill that vacancy. Half a year into her employment she worked her way up to kitchen manager, started teaching raw food prep classes; even redesigning the recipes on the menu.
As most things in life if you are spending your energy to realize someone else’s dream it tends not to feel as good as if you were to bring your own to fruition. After meeting Polly Gaza, who deeply echoed Carole’s passion for raw food, they started contemplating the idea of starting their own raw food restaurant. After long nights on the phone their mission was born, raising awareness worldwide, or raw in short. Fusing creativity with ingenuity in their new mission to provide the best raw food in Chicago, and to also share their vision, the two have teamed up to provide a healthy & great tasting alternative to the traditional heavily processed cuisine most of us are used to.
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