The Fresh Network Blog

The raw chef's dinner party training experience

Russell James is arguably the UK's most talented raw chef. If you haven't tasted his food yet, you are missing out!

He presided over The Fresh Network's raved-about series of raw dinner parties last year.

Now he is offering you the chance to learn his secrets.

Over to Russell...

"Do you have someone you’d like to impress?

Do you have friends that think ‘eating raw’ means limp lettuce, carrot sticks and apple?

Do you have a partner you’d really like to be more into raw food, to share your journey, even if it’s only every once in a while?

Let’s face it, we have all faced at least one or more of these situations, and if it’s something that’s hot for you in your life now, then I’ve got another question for you:

Would you like to spend a day with me and other like-minded people, in an intimate 1-day class, showing you how to wow friends and family with an amazing raw dinner party, and then have the day topped off with a 3 course gourmet raw dinner party with your new friends?

Surely it doesn’t get any better than that, does it?

That’s the opportunity available to you and a limited number of people on Saturday 10th November. I’m inviting you to come and visit us in the beautiful Cathedral City of Chichester, to a beautiful converted barn, set against the South Downs, with the white towers of Glorious Goodwood on the horizon."

Click here to find out more.

Raw Spirit Festival - Exploring Sedona and photos

The main outdoor stage at the Raw Spirit Festival. All of these photos were taken by Mark Conrad, so a big thanks to him for so generously sharing them. Unfortunately, when I was preparing for the trip I failed to do anything so left-brain as remember my digital camera and USB cable... : ) I managed to pack five pairs of shoes though ; )

At the Get Fresh stand with our Canadian distributors Janette and Alan of Zen Zero, an optimum health centre in Courtenay, British Columbia. We shipped 1,000 copies of Get Fresh to the festival and sold 990. Many who bought it were doing so for the first time and there was clearly some serious bedtime reading going on, as on days two and three people kept stopping me to say how much they were enjoying it!   

 

This is Cafe Raw Bliss in Sedona, where we had lunch on our last day. I'd have happily had one of everything on the menu. Until we drove out here all I had seen of Sedona was the one mile stretch of highway between my hotel and the festival. That was wild wild west whereas other parts were just like being in a cartoon!

With Raw Food Coach Karen Knowler (left). She had a coconut smoothie, a carrot and ginger soup and a spirulina salad. I had a 'Garden Of Eden' salad and a big ole slice of banana cream pie. The cake counter at this place was something else and out back they had a chocolate room. And a cute little garden with wheatgrass instead of flowers on the tables.

 

Lunched up and full of life force, here we are outside the cafe with photographer Mark.

Then, with little over an hour until we had to head back to Phoenix to fly home we hiked up to the Cathedral Rock vortex. There is information about Sedona's energy vortexes here. I used to naively believe anything anyone told me, the crazier and more 'new age' the better. Not anymore. Call me a sceptic but when I read that some of the vortexes have masculine energy and some feminine I burst out laughing.

After a half hour climb, as we sat looking over at the view you see in this photo, we all agreed we felt a subtle pulse of energy. I felt it actually in my body and it could have been the result of the rapid ascent. But as this feeling was different from what I feel after a workout in the gym, it was more likely to have been the altitude than the exertion; Sedona itself is at 4,500 feet even before you start climbing. Did I feel energised after my vortexperience? Yes, but I'm not sure what I felt was any different from what I feel any time I am in an area of breathtaking natural beauty. So the jury's still out for me...

The question on everyone's lips now is: as the raw food revolution continues apace, what will the Raw Spirit Festival look like next year and will there be a venue large enough to continue it in Sedona? Already this year it took on Woodstockian proportions and as all of us in this field can tell, this is just the start. The next Raw Spirit Festival will be in September 2008. See you there!   

Raw Spirit Festival - The morning after

So the festival is over. For all of us who attended it went by in a delicious, vibrant, enlightenment-filled flash. An event like this is a great barometer of the growth of interest in raw and living foods. I met someone yesterday who told me that when he attended this festival three years ago there were five vendors in attendance. This weekend there were around 200.

I was so hugely impressed by the companies I saw, many of whom who were not only producing mind-blowingly fabulous raw, plant-based products but also doing so in the most conscious way with no ethical detail overlooked. These companies are both a symptom of the growth in raw and living foods and a huge driver of it. In short, they make it fun, easy and cool to be raw :) This event offered the best selection of raw, ethical, green lifestyle products I have ever seen, anywhere. As a result, my purse is now a lot lighter and my hotel room an Aladdin's cave of life force-filled treasure!   

As I had so many people to see I again missed out on all the action going on in the indoor stage and various workshop and activity areas. But a big advantage of this event for vendors, networkers and serious shoppers alike is that most of the booths were within earshot of the outdoor stage where the main lectures took place, making it possible to hear the speakers in the background as you conduct business or indulge in non-stop retail therapy. Of course if you really want to get the full benefit of these world-class lecturers you need to stop what you're doing, give it your full attention and take notes, but the set-up was nonetheless a huge bonus for those of us who didn't have that option this time.

Activities on the main stage today included a meditation by the beautiful Brigitte Mars, a fascinating lecture on sun-gazing by Hira Manek, Cherie Soria talking about the raw food revolution (Cherie was honoured later during the evening's awards ceremony for her extraordinary contribution to the field of raw and living foods (others also received awards; unfortunately I missed the rest of the ceremony but I will find out who the recipients were and post this information later)) a talk by Sproutman Steve Meyerowitz and the evening's entertainment included live music and a talent show!

Brian Clement of the Hippocrates Health Institute arrived today: as ever, a walking, talking advert for the living foods lifestyle in both appearance and spirit. If you've ever heard Brian speak you know his wise words come peppered with a hearty, infectious laugh you can't help but join in with. He gave a lecture entitled 'Hippocrates: 50 Years of Living Food Healing'. As well as covering the living foods lifestyle, the decades of research-based work his institute has spearheaded, and his predictions for nutrition and medicine over the next decade, his talk included an exploration of the health benefits of sex, which brought the entire outside area to a standstill as shoppers and vendors alike stopped what they were doing and craned their necks to listen ;)

Raw Spirit Festival: Day 3 - Morning

Well, it's the last day but I don't think anyone wants to leave yet. I don't, I think a fortnight would be just about perfect : ) Raw Spirit organizer Happy Oasis mentioned during her talk yesterday that the biggest complaint they get about this festival is that it doesn't last longer.

Day 2 kicked off with conscious speed dating, for those who were up for that. I hear women sat in an inner circle, men in an outer one, and at the end of each 'pairing' the participants were told to tick the person's name if they'd like to get to know them better. When both parties tick, the organizers facilitate an exchange of contact information. So in other words, no different from regular speed dating in format, but with the big advantage that you are much more likely to meet somebody on a similar wavelength. 

On the main stage there were lectures by Patricia Bragg, Jasmuheen and David Wolfe, among many others. But the one that made me stop what I was doing and take notes was Dr Jameth Sheridan. The title of his talk was 'Ultimate Cleansing & Healing'. He started off by exploring the pros and cons of water fasting and juice fasting through tales of his vast experience with both, and explained why he ultimately came down in favour of the latter. There were fascinating facts aplenty. For example, did you know that when you water fast your cholesterol goes up as you are living on a 100% animal food diet? Of course: you're digesting you!

He gave his views on the best water (low surface tension structured water, which is what you get when you juice vegetables and fruits) and the worst (distilled water: it may be pure but it's also cooked, and it's the least cleansing and least hydrating water you can consume – though of course not everyone would agree with this!)

Raw Spirit Festival: Day 1 - Morning

Greetings from Sedona, Arizona. I arrived late last night for what is shaping up to be the biggest and most spectacular raw food gathering ever: The Raw Spirit Festival 2007. As an added bonus, on the same flight as me was my ex-colleague and good friend Karen Knowler, who will be giving a talk on Sunday. The impressive line-up also includes Viktoras Kulvinskas, Dr Brian Clement, Victoria Boutenko, Patricia Bragg, Dr Jameth Sheridan, Matt Monarch, Cherie Soria, Markus Rothkranz, Mike Adams, Tonya Zavasta and Jasmuheen...among many others. Over 1,000 people will be at the festival, including close to 200 vendors. As well as all the lectures, workshops and retail therapy opportunities there will also be food demos, exercise classes, conscious speed dating, a chocolate party(!), a cuddle party(!!), live music and dancing. I'll be posting updates as often as I can over the next few days to give you the inside scoop on what's happening at the festival, so stay tuned!   

London premiere for compelling film documentary - May 3, 2006

The London film premiere of the film documentary The Future of Food, organised by the Guild of Food Writers with the Soil Association, is on Thursday June 22. The afternoon screening at the French Institute, South Kensington, will be followed by a question and answer session with the director Deborah Koons Garcia, chaired by Craig Sams, founder of Green & Black's, and followed by organic finger food and a chance to network.

A compelling documentary, the Future of Food is a wake-up call from the US about the threat to natural and organic food from GM technology. Charting the revolution that is transforming the nature of the food we eat the film offers an “in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabelled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled grocery store shelves for the past decade”.

"I thought I knew everything about GM issues but this film opened my eyes to more," says organiser Elisabeth Winkler.

Tickets are £10-£5.

For more details contact ewinkler@soilassociation.org