The Fresh Network Blog

Come to our Christmas party!

Just because you’re into all things eco and organic doesn’t mean you don’t enjoy a big night out and a good old knees-up as much as the next person. But if you choose to eat raw vegan, chances are you’re used to being left pretty disappointed on the food front, as you politely pass on the champagne, the steak and the crème brulée and push limp lettuce leaves around your plate.

But not on Sunday December 6! We are holding a party at London’s Saf restaurant, which is for our money not only the UK’s but also Europe’s top raw restaurant. This will be THE raw party of the year, folks! And there are still some tickets left, so read on to find out more...or just book your ticket now! Our early bird prices are still on offer - book by October 31 and you get 10% off the ticket price, and there are further savings if you buy more than one ticket.

Four reasons you will want to be at this party:

The food We tasted everything on Saf’s menu and hand-picked the delights to serve to you on this special night. Naturally, it was a tough job but we don’t cut corners when it comes to ensuring our customers are getting the very best! The food will be served as passed canapés, starting with savoury delicacies and moving to sweet treats as the night progresses. Among other things, we selected amazing raw sushi, Saf’s famous beetroot ravioli (pictured), an out-of-this-world cashew cheese with sage pesto and a pink peppercorn crust, and some raw cakes that have to be tried to be believed. There will also be a salad bar serving three gorgeous "to-live-for" salads. Food will be in abundance, and it’s all created by none other than Saf’s executive chef, the legendary Chad Sarno, and brilliant new head chef Anupam Som.

The people If you’ve attended previous Fresh Network events you’re sure to see familiar faces here! If you haven’t, you will find it the ideal place for meeting people who are on your wavelength, should you wish to. A hint: if you’re passionate about all things raw but don’t have any (or many) friends who share that passion, consider it a priority to be at this party! Ask anyone who lives an alternative lifestyle and has plenty of like-minded friends: it makes a huge difference to your quality of life. Many customers report that they have forged some of their best friendships at our events. Oh, and did we mention that a number of high-profile raw food experts will be there on the night to chat to guests and sign books? This will be your chance to meet some of the people you’ve read about online, or seen in the pages of Get Fresh! magazine.

The discount shopping There’s no need to wait for the January sales if you shop with us! We will be selling everything from our online store at extra-special prices at this party, with discounts ranging from 10% to 20%. Why not beat the crowds by arriving at 5pm for the hour of pre-party shopping? We’ll be operating a system whereby you can leave your shopping with us and collect it later. If you purchase any of our kitchen equipment (ideal as Christmas gifts, including to yourself!) we will mail them to you to save you lugging heavy boxes across London. With discounts like these you don’t have to do much shopping to make back the cost of your party ticket in savings!

The goody bag As our gift to you for attending you will receive a special surprise Christmas goody bag packed with raw treats: a selection of lovely things to eat and to read, along with discount vouchers from some of the top companies in the field. It wouldn’t be a surprise if we told you any more than that, but suffice it to say that Christmas will come early for you if you attend this party.

The agenda
5pm Doors open for shopping
6pm Party begins
7pm-9pm Enjoy the canapés and visit the salad bar
9pm-11pm Music and dancing
Midnight Doors close

From the night’s menu...

Welcome cocktail
Lavender & Ginger Lemonade

Savoury canapés
Beetroot Ravioli
Taco Mexicano
Vegetable Maki
And more...

Salad bar
Baby Gem Caesar Salad
Spinach, Tomato and Basil Salad
Thai Papaya Salad

Dessert canapés
Chocolate and Orange Marble Torte
Raspberry Geranium Cake
And more...

Tickets will not be available on the door and numbers are strictly limited so book early to avoid disappointment!

Ticket price includes:

• welcome cocktail and raw nibbles
• savoury and sweet canapés, in abundance
• as many visits as you want to the salad bar
• unlimited filtered water and herbal and green teas
• goody bag filled with gorgeous raw treats

We hope to see you on December 6. Remember - we're still offering early bird prices, but not for much longer, so why not book your ticket right now! On our website you will find masses of useful information including how to get to Saf, hotel suggestions and a mini raw guide to London for those who are planning to make a weekend of it.

We're back - with more exciting news!

We're sorry this blog hasn't exactly been a hive of activity over the last fortnight. That's because there has been so much activity going on behind the scenes. We can't go into too much detail right now as it has been a bit of a marathon and we all need an early night. But in brief, here are a few things you might be interested to know...

To the left is the cover of our much-anticipated ebook, which is just out - Raw: your biggest questions answered. This is the book we updated you on two weeks ago, it features the opinions of 12 leading raw food experts on a wide variety of topics, and you can now find out more about what's in it, and/or instantly download it and get your hands on 270 pages of the most valuable and fascinating health information ever published.

But this isn't the only publication we've brought out this week: we're also proud to bring you the Autumn issue of Get Fresh! magazine, now available in print or as an instantly downloadable emag.

Also newly launched this week is our affiliate programme. This is for those of you who have a raw business, website or blog and and would like to earn a potentially very nice source of passive income referring customers to us. It's as simple as signing up online and then putting a special link or banner (which we'll provide) on your website. This will automatically track traffic from your site to ours and pay you commission on any sales that result. Go here to read more about our affilate programme and/or to sign up.

Finally, we have been busy planning our Christmas party. It's on the evening of Sunday 6th December, it's at Saf, London's top raw restaurant, and it will be THE raw party of the year. Tickets are on sale as of today and numbers are limited so they are sure to sell out fast. Go here to read more about it and/or to snap up your ticket/s before it's too late. 

Announcing The Fresh Forum

By Sarah Best.

When you first discovered the raw movement, you probably assumed it would be a cosy, close-knit fraternity where everyone is in agreement with everyone else about what constitutes optimal nutrition. But you don't have to spend much time looking into it to be hit by how little consensus there is about what the ideal diet looks like.

Meanwhile, doctors and dieticians and other mainstream medical experts insist that the raw diet is a fad, that it is extreme, that it will leave you deficient in essential nutrients, and that we digest cooked foods better – in other words, there is a great deal of opposition to the notion that raw is best when it comes to nutrition. So having navigated your way through those conflicting opinions and arrived at something that really makes sense, it can be very disheartening to discover that within the raw arena there is so little consensus about what we should actually be eating. And we are not talking shades of difference here, but diametrically opposed views.

For example, consider these polarized opinions – just a small selection of the many points of contention:

"We are all biochemically different so there is no 'ideal' diet that suits everyone"

"There is an ideal diet for humans, just like there is for every other species"

"A raw diet alone isn't adequate these days – you can't be healthy without taking supplements"

"Supplements are completely unnecessary, absolutely inferior to living raw foods and in many cases detrimental to health"

"Raw juices are an essential part of a raw diet"

"Raw juices are not essential and it's always better to consume the whole food"

"Eat little to no fruit"

"Eat 80% or more fruit"

The Fresh Forum is a panel of the world's leading experts on raw food. The line-up includes Elaine Bruce, Dr Brian Clement, Dao Earl, Dr Doug Graham, Thomas Lodi MD, Paul Nison, Frederic Patenaude, Natalia Rose, Jasmine Scalesciani, Shazzie and Tonya Zavasta.

The new Fresh Network!

Cary Kikis here, the new owner and director of The Fresh Network. I want to take this opportunity to say hello and tell you a little about what I have in store for you. First of all, rest assured that everything you have come to know and love about The Fresh Network will live on. However, as interest in raw food reaches unprecedented levels and proof of its benefits continues to mount, I will be taking Fresh to the next stage in its evolution! It is my aim to make it the one-stop shop where you can get everything you need to help you look and feel your best and live life to the full.

Whether you are already a convert to the high-raw lifestyle, simply want to experiment and find out more, or just want to feel better, look younger and/or have more energy, my staff and I are here to serve you at the highest level. We offer a fabulous and constantly updated range of products, plus cutting-edge health information in the form of our quarterly magazine and our events schedule – all of it delivered with first-class customer service.

You may have noticed that there has been a lapse in normal services due to the company changing hands – please accept my apologies for this. The great news is that the shop is now full of a huge range of fantastic products – old favourites and brand new ones alike. As a gesture of my appreciation for your patience over the last few months I am offering massive discounts on all orders placed between now and 30th April. An amazing 10% off books and equipment, 20% off nuts, seeds (including sprouting seeds) and seaweed products, and 30% off all other products including all other foods, and all supplements!   

 

Karen's A Business Woman Uncovered!

Top UK Life Coach Lynette Allen recently launched the "Business Uncovered" concept and web site - a place where the people behind the business could be seen as well as heard.

Fresh's own Karen Knowler went along to London one day in March and was filmed live for the BU site, and this month she's been picked as May's Business Woman of the Month!

To see what Karen had to say live to the camera, click here.

Fresh Web Site Greened Up!

The newly revamped Fresh Network Web Site is up... it's our new look, BUT not our 'proper' new site - that will follow in a few weeks.

For now we have brought the green heart to life online, 'greening up' our usual web site and the online shop is being updated as we write.

We hope you will enjoy journeying with us over the coming weeks and months as the whole glorious package unfolds - the new site will be amazing, and a new shop too... but as always, all these things take time, but will definitely be worth waiting for.

The New Fresh Subscriber Package Announced

By Emma: We're making lots of exciting changes here at Fresh HQ at the moment. There is a lot of excitement and laughter in the office (kindly helped by Pete's practical jokes with me being at the tail end of one today! I shall have my revenge!) One of the big changes is our new Subscriber Package. Instead of us juggling Subscribers and Full Members (which until now were very different), we are now about to merge the two and have created a package that is simply unbeatable in terms of value for money.

This only means good news, as the price for all of these new benefits will be just £25 per year (UK resident price) from 1st May 2006 (as opposed to the £40 for the Member price which offers less discounts) - a real bargain and no mistake!

For current Members this means your discounts increase automatically from 1 May (from 5% discount on food items to 10% discount) and you need do nothing. For full details please see your latest issue of the Green Heart Monthly.

For current Subscribers it means that should you choose to 'upgrade' for an extra £7, from 1 May you will receive all of the discounts listed below until your subscription to Get Fresh! magazine expires (you may want to call us to find out exactly where you're at).

For those who are currently neither a Member nor a Subscriber, our advice is to call us today and sign up for the Subscriber Package and you'll bag the best deal we have EVER offered.

Here's the new deal:

• 4 issues of Get Fresh! magazine (1 issue mailed per quarter)
• 10% discount on all food/supplements/cleansing kits
• 5% discount on all non-edible mail order items (books, equipment, audios etc)
• 5% discount on all Fresh Network events for you PLUS 1 guest
• 10% discount on the Fresh Festival for you PLUS 1 guest
• 10% discount on all Raw Food Leader Teleclasses

The only thing left to say is - why wouldn't you?!

The potential savings are enormous!

What to do next?

Existing Members - you need do nothing until your membership card expires

Existing Subscribers - if you'd like the new deal call us now to upgrade

Newbies - Call us today and we'll take your details and start you off from 1st May

The number to call: 0845 833 7017