The Fresh Network Blog

Interview with Anthony Anderson

Performed by Vitality Planet especially for The Fresh Network Blog

As he delved deeper into the holistic lifestyle, Anthony Anderson discovered the joys and profundity of gardening and realized that this just may be the panacea that will help heal humanity and planet Earth. Anthony's mission is to inspire others to plant paradise on the planet once again. He has founded www.GrowParadise.com to help inspire others to do just that: to grow their own food and create a paradise planet here and now. 'Grow Paradise' inspired projects are already underway internationally.

Cherry picked for modelling at 18, Anthony Anderson has been in constant demand as an international model since the age of 23. In his quest to hone his physique for his profession, Anthony came across Raw Food Nutrition - a huge change from the diet of processed foods he was raised on.

Delighted with the immediate positive physical changes, Anthony was also astonished to experience profound bursts of energy, happiness and mental clarity through his change of diet. His ongoing experience and success is documented on his hugely popular website www.rawmodel.com; his videos, which to date have been viewed 517,073 times on YouTube, and The Anthony Anderson show. He is also available for modelling ethically produced clothing.

Anthony now interweaves modelling with his greatest passion: spreading ideas and awareness about sustainable living and the growing of Paradise on Earth, through his project 'Grow Paradise' (www.growparadise.com).

Describe what you do in 2-4 sentences if that is at all possible?

Being based primarily in NYC, I use modelling and acting to help me raise funds for my three passions in life - eating amazing organic food, travelling the world, and planting forest gardens. I founded www.rawmodel.com and www.GrowParadise.com to help spread that passion of green living and paradise creation via the web through blogs and videos.

Home poisonous home?

We often think of home as a safe and secure place, but our homes could be poisoning us. So what do we do? Philip Weeks explains all

We may think that toxins and harmful chemicals are solely a result of environmental pollution in the outside world. However, our homes can contain many damaging and potentially detrimental influences, which could severely degrade our health. The air pollution within our homes can be many times, even hundreds of times greater than outside. This can be a significant factor in the area of health, especially as the average person spends 90% of their time indoors.

Wake up to 2012

Most of us think of the New Year as a time of transformation but in the current world of chaos it can also be a very overwhelming period.

Caroline Shola Arewa looks forward to the changes that the New Year can herald and helps us to define the right direction and clarity of thinking.

The long-awaited 2012 is upon us and I am not talking about the Olympics. I am talking about the many ancient prophecies that cite 2012 as a major turning point for humankind. There are numerous interpretations ranging from the apocalyptic to the truly transformative. Should we survive the threat of the world ending and other prophecies, we can expect 2012 to be an extraordinary year, a powerful and auspicious time of awakening and transformation.

Endings signal new beginnings and all new beginnings follow an end. The word apocalypse comes from the Greek apokálypsis, meaning a revelation, to reveal something previously disclosed. Transformation means moving from one form to another. How we interpret the year ahead makes little difference. We may see destruction or creation; they are two sides of the same coin. They share the same energy, like the end of pregnancy and the birth of new life. What really matters is the potential and the opportunity to embrace something different.

The prophecies
The best-known prophecy comes from the Mayan calendar. It is thought the calendar and consequently the world come to an end on 21st December 2012, with the completion of the great period of 13 B’ak’tuns. The Ancients believed that all creation and people of the world would be annihilated on the last day of the 13th B’ak’tun. This period was predicted by the Mayans as a time of major conflict and change.

According to the Dendera zodiac of the ancient Egyptians, 2012 marks the end of the procession of the equinox, which occurred between 2004 and 2012. This zodiac shows the Piscean Age ending as we approach the Aquarian Age – the age of Hapi, God of the Nile River. Hapi represents unity, connecting upper and lower Egypt. Hapi also symbolises the union of our higher and lower selves.

In the yogic tradition, this present time is known as Kali Yuga, a time of destruction and turbulence, characterised by moral descent and spiritual weakness. Interestingly this age started around the same time as the 13th B’ak’tun. They may have started together, but they end far apart. It seems Kali Yuga is set to continue for some time yet.

The galactic alignment theory is where science and mysticism meet. Galactic alignment is a significant astrological event taking place every 26,000 years. It takes about seven years to complete. The earth passes through the black hole at the centre of the milky way. This brings the earth, the sun and the centre of our milky way, itself an active galaxy, into alignment. Such an event has a powerful gravitational pull on our planet, disturbing its stability. Hence all the weather changes, earthquakes and devastation we have seen. Back in 1955 Einstein predicted that a pole shift could occur around the end of 2012 where the North and South Poles would rapidly move, causing a catastrophic effect around the entire globe, this scientific understanding coincides with the Mayan prophecies. However we choose to view things, 2012 is a momentous time for planetary and personal shifts.

Even Hollywood has created movies that propagate the fears, excitement and buzz surrounding 2012. So what does it all mean? Is there a reason the United Nations General Assembly termed 2012 the year of cooperatives? Are New Age thinkers on the right track, believing this to be a time of major acceleration and movement that will propel us from the war torn energies of destruction and fear into the expansive loving energy of compassion and heart-centred living? From my work in spiritual and personal development and extensive research into the human energy system and human behaviour, I see this time as the dawn of a new consciousness. 2012 provides an opportunity to create unity consciousness.

Transformation of consciousness
We are standing at the crossroads of major transformation. Our planet is crying out in pain as the mighty winds of change blow up a powerful storm. Our world is in the midst of chaos and confusion. As we seek solutions, we come face to face with the part we each play in this global chaos. We become aware of our alienation from nature, our divorce from religion and our dependence on technology. We see relationships failing, creativity sidelined and money ruling. We feel the stresses, suffer the diseases and watch the disintegration of qualities we hold dear like peace and harmony.

Yet out of darkness comes light and out of chaos comes order. We want our lives to improve and we want the world to be a better place. As we seek to transform ourselves, we change the world. As Ghandi proclaimed “be the change you want to see”.

Over the last 20 years I have seen a steady increase of progressive souls opting for more meaningful lifestyles. Lifestyles that take the planet, its wildlife and its people, far and wide, into account; conscious living, raw food diets, buying fair trade, supporting causes concerned with the elimination of poverty and making small moves towards global change. More and more people are choosing lifestyles that favour personal health and not just company wealth. Talk of work/life balance, emotional intelligence, family values and personal leadership are all commonplace. This shift demonstrates a greater awareness of self and highlights the fact that we do have choices and we can be responsible for our actions and the impact they have on both our immediate environment and the world at large.

This shift leads me to believe we are taking part in a spiritual revolution, a transformation of consciousness; an awakening envisaged by the ancients and depicted on the earliest calendars of the Egyptians and the Mayans. As the procession of the equinox pulls us into the Age of Aquarius, we are experiencing great planetary change and political instability. Both threaten global destruction and extinction of the human race, as predicted.

The threat of the unknown is a wake-up call inviting us to transform ourselves and in so doing enhance our world. Many people are now answering this calling. As the human potential movement, once the domain of the enlightened few expands and matures, we are seeing people willing to take responsibility for their lives and the environment we live in. Many of us are willing to make changes, willing to be the change a spiritual revolution calls for. We are part of a revolution, a movement of rapid change and rotation that is taking us back to review the ways of old. We have the opportunity, more now than ever, to tap into a vast reservoir of spiritual intelligence. This powerful source can help us redesign our lives creating more health, happiness and success. Spiritual intelligence can also support us in changing the world in which we live, as we welcome in an age of unity consciousness. We are expanding our awareness of who we are and developing new ways of being. We are standing at the edge and unity consciousness is emerging as a viable way forward. The planet and her people are on this edge, as if taking part in an initiation, a time of challenge and fear for survival. We can remain stuck in war and power issues or choose love and a transformation of consciousness. Will we make it? Will we survive? I believe so, but only if we make wise choices.

What can you do?
We all have a responsibility to wake up and be the very best we can be. This time of transformation and awakening is the perfect opportunity to let go of the old and herald in a powerful new energy. Answering the questions below only takes a few minutes and the clarity gained will motivate and uplift your energy for the coming year.

• What have you achieved in 2011?

• Identify what you appreciate in your life right now?

An attitude of gratitude revitalises energy.
• What do you need to release?
• Is there anything in your life that no longer serves you?

This is the time to let it go.
• What is your vision and life purpose for 2012?
• What is emerging in your life?
• What is your heart’s desire for the year ahead?

Clarity makes your dreams reality. Start 2012 clear, creative and energised.

I trust this present time of awakening will bring a major shift in the collective soul consciousness of humankind. Through unity consciousness, we have the potential to wake up, create lives of love and harmony and live in a global village we can all be proud to call home.

This article is from the Winter 2011 issue of Get Fresh! magazine.

Sign up to Caroline Shola Arewa's Spirit of Success newsletter and receive a free 7-day e-course on creating Energy and Excellence in your life this year. www.shola.co.uk

Dairy didn't work for me, says Debbie Took

2010 has been a year of fierce debate among raw food fans about whether or not our optimal diet is a vegan one. We first chimed in on this topic in January with our article Why the shift away from veganism in the raw world?, and again in February when Doug Graham and Thomas Billings debated the topic in the article Is 100% raw vegan our optimal diet? Later that month we revisited it in Are YOU getting enough vitamin D?

Popular raw food blogger Debbie Took contributed interesting material to the debate in March and April when she announced that she had tested below the normal range in vitamin B12 - B12 being one of the biggest deficiency risks among vegans. 

A raw vegan for around three and a half years at the time, she was forced to choose between taking supplements - something she didn't believe in - and compromising on the vegan part - something else she was dead set against doing. She tells the full story around this tough decision in her articles Debbie Does B12 Part 1 and Part 2.

She eventually decided that compromising on the vegan part was the lesser of two evils - largely because it was the more natural solution of the two - and she added a little soft cheese to her diet. However, she found raw cheese near impossible to source, and as for ethically produced - that unfortunately does not exist at this time. So she was forced to compromise not only on (1) her vegan diet but also on (2) her raw diet and (3) her strong desire not to cause suffering to other sentient beings. Nonetheless, for a while this decision still seemed to be the best option available to her.

However, Debbie privately emailed me an update recently, and I asked her permission to share this information with you, as it is written with such honesty and openness. At a time when there is still so much we don't know about optimum nutrition, all such accounts have something to teach us, and I know this one will resonate with many of you. Debbie kindly agreed to have her comments made public, and you can read them by clicking below. Thank you, Debbie, for sharing your experiences with me, and with our readers.

Interview with Rozalind Graham

Professor Rozalind Graham spent 18 years as one of the most active writers and speakers on the raw food circuit. She is revered as much for redefining what constitutes compassionate living as for her straight-talking logic in matters of nutrition and health. Her husband is raw food promoter Dr Douglas Graham and for the last five years she has been a full-time mother to their daughter, Faychesca. She rarely writes these days and if you have made it to one of her few speaking engagements you should count yourself lucky. In this exclusive interview, she talks to Sarah Best about her own transition to raw foods, and shares her insights into the reasons behind disordered eating, and the importance of reconnecting with our true nature.

You’ve been following the raw vegan diet for over 23 years and in that time you’ve also been one of the world’s leading promoters of it. But I think it’s accurate to say you first started out on the alternative lifestyle path for compassionate reasons rather than health ones?

Yes. As I grew up I started to become more and more aware of what I now call congruency, although I didn’t have a word for it at the time. I had a deep, deep love of animals so I knew it wasn’t appropriate to be causing suffering to these precious beings by eating them. I honestly don’t remember what age I was when I went vegetarian, but I do know I was just a child.

What led you from vegetarianism (and later veganism) to discovering and adopting the raw diet and lifestyle?

As a young adult I was teaching exercise classes and one of my students was an Anglo-Indian lady. When she started coming she was quite heavy and didn’t look very well. She was absent for some time and one day I was in the supermarket and I bumped trolleys with a stunning woman – sparkling eyes, amazing skin, shiny hair. I knew I knew her but couldn’t work out from where. When she told me who she was I was astounded and I had to ask her, “What’s your secret – it obviously wasn’t my classes!” She put a copy of the book Fit For Life in my trolley, told me to “Read that,” kissed me on the cheek and left!

On UK Channel 4 tonight at 7:15pm

Why the shift away from veganism in the raw world?

By Sarah Best.

As you may already have noticed, a big change has taken place in the raw food world, and this change is ongoing. More and more raw food authors, coaches and speakers are coming forward either to say they're not vegan anymore, to publicly promote the health benefits of certain animal products, or to warn that the vegan diet does not provide all necessary nutrients so vegans must supplement.

Taking into account those raw leaders who have never been completely vegan anyway, we can now count very few raw food promoters who are 100% vegan themselves and who also say that a 100% raw vegan diet provides us with everything we need (i.e. that there is no need to supplement). We decided a while ago that this phenomenon deserved a closer look, so we have been busy discussing this shift with our contacts and also investigating what may be causing it.

Before going any further, we wish to acknowledge the gigantic ethical and environmental justifications for avoiding animal products, and the fact that for many, eating these foods is not an option, regardless of any alleged or real health benefits. And indeed this is why
there are passionate vegans who do not believe the vegan diet is our natural diet, but who choose to stay vegan and supplement rather than consume animal products.

Today we bring you the opinions of five people who are well-known in the raw food community. This is a small cross section of the comments we've collected, and it is representative of the answers we've been hearing in response to our question, "Why has there been a shift away from veganism in the raw movement?"

"How I do Christmas" by 10 raw food leaders

Back in its Winter 2001 issue, Get Fresh! magazine asked a selection of raw food experts these questions:

Please set the scene as to where you'll be this Christmas and who you'll be with.  

What's likely to be on the Christmas menu this year for you personally and for those around you? 

What are your tips for spending a hassle-free Christmas with people whose food choices are different?

What's made this year a great year for you? 

Any words of wisdom to share with our readers?

Last week we put the same questions to 10 of today's leading raw food experts: Elaine Bruce, Alissa Cohen, Dao Earl, Karen Knowler, Paul Nison, Ani Phyo, Natalia Rose, Shazzie, Pete Vincent and Tera Warner. 

We hope you find their answers as wise, inspiring, funny, interesting and thought-provoking as we did.

When raw meets romance

By Sarah Best.

If you’re passionate about all things raw and your partner is too, count yourself lucky. Most raw food fans who are in a relationship are with someone who doesn’t share their enthusiasm for health and high-energy living. 

As anyone who’s been in this situation knows, this is about a lot more than just sitting down to different dishes at mealtimes, or heated arguments about restaurant choices (your beloved voting for dim sum at The Dragon Inn while you’re hankering after sprout salad at The Happy Buddha). Our diet and lifestyle choices don’t just affect us physically – they affect us mentally, emotionally and spiritually too.

They also say an awful lot about our values and beliefs. The wife who makes dietary decisions based only on what tastes good and/or keeps her slim and the husband who is vegan for ethical, environmental and health reasons clearly have two very different world views and sets of priorities.

All other things being equal, it is much easier to be in a relationship with someone who is on the same page as us about life’s biggest questions. But the universe doesn’t always have “easy” in mind for us when it comes to relationships. Many of us, for various reasons, will achieve greater spiritual growth with someone who sees the world differently; challenges our beliefs; pushes our buttons.

But don't assume this path is always hard work. Some of the happiest couples I know are made up of one raw food fan and one standard diet eater respectfully accommodating each other’s habits and idiosyncrasies. 

Conscious eating is on the up

By Sarah Best.

Last week's Sunday Times contained a very positive piece about eating vegan. The article touches on the health and eco benefits of animal-free cuisine, as well as its growing popularity: it reports that the conscious eating market is predicted to grow by 19% in the next five years. Eating raw is also mentioned in a positive light in this quote from a trend forecaster with the US agency Culture of Future:

“Eating vegan and raw is the quickest way to health, and it has really hit mass stride in Hollywood with stars who are more concerned with glowing health than going green. It gives the body what it wants: a rest from heavy and slow digestion and a chance to release and rebuild."

However, the main slant of the article is that veganism doesn't have to be a full-time thing. While we don't agree with everything in this article we think it makes some great points. Obviously, if you are a passionate ethical vegan, going part time isn't an option for you. But isn't it great news for humanity, the planet and all the creatures that inhabit it that so many people are starting to embrace vegan meals and plans like "vegan until dinner"?

Considering the UK press is often neanderthally scathing about all things vegan (did anyone else see the Telegraph review of Saf restaurant last year that amusingly yet also ridiculously described vegans as people who live in "hemp-knitted hovels"?), it is great to see The Times demonstrating once again that it has its finger on the pulse when it comes to conscious living.