The Fresh Network Blog

Raw: your biggest questions answered

We're back to tell you more about our brilliant new ebook -pictured - and to share an extended excerpt from it. This is the book where we ask a panel of 12 leading experts the biggest questions regarding the raw diet and lifestyle. Click here to read an extended selection of those questions and/or to download the book and read on to see who is on the panel.

The excerpt we've chosen to share is part of the chapter on supplementation. [Note: a similar excerpt appeared in the current issue of Get Fresh! magazine - if you have already read it there it is still worth reading on, as this version contains information that was not included there due to space constraints]. Without further ado, here it is...

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. 

Fantastic new products!

We are excited to announce that we have taken on FOUR fabulous new product ranges. Three of them are so unique you can't get them anywhere else in the UK.

One Lucky Duck – gourmet snacks made by hand in the kitchens of Pure Food and Wine restaurant, as featured in the current issue of Get Fresh! magazine. We are also selling One Lucky Duck's Eat Raw Live Long shirts in a variety of sizes for both men and women.

Living Tree Community – we're in nut butter heaven! Their olive oil is pretty amazing too...

Vega bars and meal replacement powders – fast food that's good for you, by ironman triathlete and dedicated eco-friendly raw vegan Brendan Brazier.

Mumm's organic sprouting seeds – you don't have to be green-fingered to get superior sprouts from these babies!

First things first. As our website is currently undergoing a re-design, these products are not yet showing in our online shop. For photos, details and prices of each individual product go here.

When you've decided what you want to order, simply ring us on +44 (0)845 833 7017 and as long as we have it in stock it will be dispatched the same day (on orders received before 3pm).

The One Lucky Duck range is selling at introductory prices for a limited time. Even better, there is a way to get hold of these goodies and everything else we sell at a substantial discount if you are able to visit us in London tomorrow (Saturday June 30). The Fresh Network will have a stand at Viva!'s Incredible Veggie Roadshow and we will be selling all of the new products at this event. Come visit us and you'll be able to help yourself to samples of all the One Lucky Duck snacks. But be warned - we offered this recently at the Bristol Vegan Fayre and few who tried them could resist buying!

As well as the new products mentioned here we will also be selling a selection of others from our range on Saturday. Come and shop with us and not only can you take what you choose away with you on the day, saving on postage, but better still we'll be selling everything at an amazing 20% discount. Anything on our website that we're not selling at this event can also be ordered at a 20% discount if paid for on the day, with the exception of books and equipment, which you'll be able to order at a 10% discount.

We do hope to see you there!

The easiest ice creams and sorbets

Did you know how easy it is to make tasty, refreshing and healthy ice creams and sorbets using just fresh fruits and nuts? It can take as little as two minutes as long as you have the right machine for the job: the Cuisinart food processor, a kitchen gadget raw food fans rave about.

Cut your chosen fruit into chunks and place in plastic bags in the freezer. Once the fruit is frozen you just place it in the Cuisinart, switch the machine on and watch it work its magic. Within a few minutes you'll have a delicious yet guilt-free dessert. You'll need a top-quality food processor such as this one for the recipes below and for many other raw food recipes. Such a machine will be capable of things cheaper machines cannot achieve so it really is worth the investment.

The great thing about using the Cuisinart for these particular recipes, as opposed to the blank screen of a homogenizing juicer, is that it automatically looks as well as tastes just like ice cream, which is hard to achieve when using a juicer.

Of course, the ice cream you make will only be as good as the fruit you use so make sure it is fully ripe to get the best flavour. Many of the recipes below use bananas as a base; if you've never tried this before you will see why once you do! As a guide, use two large bananas or three small bananas per person. In the unlikely event that you make more than you can eat in one go you can always freeze the remainder. You'll just need to remember to take it out around half an hour before you want to eat it.

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!   

 

"Oh No, It's Not Out of Stock... Again?"

Recently for many it has become apparent that from time to time certain products become unavailable and are out of stock for some time. In the western world we are rapidly being lead into a false belief that there is a never ending supply of all the things that we want. Our supermarkets for example now have certain vegetables all year round when they only used to be seasonal. We tend to forget to think or even wonder how far someone has had to go to get hold of some of these items, and even less do we give a thought to the effect our demand is having on local environments all around the world.

When it comes to limited supplies of high quality raw superfoods that are farmed using sustainable methods, by small independent farmers who take care not to interrupt the local environment, then the problem of products running out is all the more greater. We hope that our suppliers help the farmers maintain their high standards and do not bow to customer demands like so many of the big supermarkets are doing nowadays resulting in poor quality food.

So before we get too mad at the fact that the products that we love are out of stock maybe we should give a thought to why they are out of stock. We should also think twice about buying cheap, mass produced, poor quality alternatives claiming to be of the same quality when these products are out of stock. They not only sell you short but also destroy environments and have the potential of threatening the livelihood of the farmers and local communities who take care not to do this.

What are the long term consequences of us not being concerned about these issues....

Imagine living in a place where the item out of stock is WATER!

Oooh Lara, You're So Lovely!

From Emma: Please allow me to introduce Lara. In May 2000, after a normal hike on the beautiful Rocky Mountains on Colorado, Lara was in need of an energy kick. After finding nothing satisfactory or attractive amongst the coffee-guzzling crowd, little did she know that this hike was going to spark a mountain of an idea...

After scouring the aisles of grocery stores and noting popular flavours of ice-creams and cookies, Lara set to work with her blender. Realising that she was only going to gain real, sustainable energy, from pure, raw, wholesome foods, in went the ingredients: fruits and nuts. After tampering with a few recipes and testing her formulas on willing family and friends she had finally created an absolutely delicious concoction of Larabars, all flavoured and named exactly as they taste; 'Cherry Pie', 'Apple Pie', 'Banana Cookie', 'Cashew Cookie', 'Cocoa Mole' and 'Ginger Snap'.

We had an absolute field day in the office when Steffi, Larabar's UK Marketing Manager came up to Fresh HQ last week with a mound of samples to taste test. It is a real treat when you eat something that actually tastes as it says it will! And they really do! They are filling, full of wholesome ingredients and incredibly delicious! What's more, they are 100% raw! You will be just as shocked as us when you try them. And now we have them in stock, you have no reason not to!

(By far my favourite is 'Ginger Snap', but that's because I have a thing going on with ginger at the moment... Karen loves the 'Pecan Pie' - coming soon - while Pete loves the 'Cherry Pie' and Russell and Sarah just seem to love them all! Oh yes and little Luke, 3, loves the 'Banana Cookie', although he's yet to say no to any, which actually, is true of us all...)

Now available from The Fresh Network, with freebies being sent with online orders while stocks last : )

Product Focus - pH Stix

pH Stix - Specifically designed to test Urine and Saliva pH.

The acid/alkaline range that pH Stix measures is 4.5 to 9.0.

The duel colour system is the most accurate way available in a home test.

Buy pH Stix Now Fresh code PH03 Price £7.99 for 80 test strips

Why Test Your pH in the first place?

A major factor in achieving optimum health, is your body's ability to achieve and maintain the correct pH levels. Whether you are consciously aware of it or not, your body is constantly trying to save your life by keeping your pH levels within a certain range - exactly the same as with body temperature. If it isn't able to do this then you will become seriously ill and may even die.

Many external things affect our body pH, food being one of the main factors. Others include: emotions, alcohol, medicinal drugs, supplements, environment and recreational drugs to name a few.

NEW PRODUCT - Coconut Water Anyone?

Now available from the Fresh online shop - Dr Martins Coco Drink.

We are always getting asked if we are going to start selling young coconuts but the logistics of this and risk of spoilt and bad coconuts has made it impossible, so I am particularly excited about the introduction of this fantastic new product. On a recent visit to the Organic Products Show at Olympia I met the people behind this amazing new product. After years of research, thousands of pounds of investment and many attempts at perfecting the technique (how to package the coconut water and give it a shelf-life without pasteurising it) - at last it's here, Coconut Water now available packed and ready to drink. I would say that this is about as close at it gets to drinking fresh coconut water other than of course cracking open a freshly picked young coconut and drinking it.

Have we had fun taste testing this one! They are now available to buy from our online shop. Read on to find out more about this great new product and to discover why it is called the fluid of life...

Where's the Chocolate Powder?

Anybody who has ordered Raw Chocolate Powder just lately will by now know that there is a Chocolate Powder shortage going on! At this time we have no ETA from the USA, but rest assured that as soon as we get it your orders will be sent out to you. We (the Team) have all run out too, so nobody wants to see it back on our shelves more than us!

It is a good time to try and explain why this happens from time to time with various products. Many of these products are of a particularly high quality and because the standards are so high, they are in relatively short supply, especially as the demand for them grows at an ever increasing rate. Many of the small individual farms that grow the produce are beginning to struggle to keep up with worldwide demand. We currently stock a lot of Nature's First Law products because we know that they have done their homework and that the quality has not been compromised just in order to satisfy demand. Customers should be aware of cheaper products claiming to be of the same quality. You can always find cheaper if you are willing to take those kind of risks. More importantly Nature's First Law assure that the farmers are paid a good price allowing the farms to continue to grow and maintain their crops at such a high standard. You can feel good in the knowledge that when you buy these products you are playing your part in this positive productive cycle.

I would just like to say thank you for your patience to all customers waiting for Chocolate Powder and Maca Extreme right now.

TOP TIP from Karen: To recreate the raw chocolate powder flavour almost to exact duplication, simply blend raw cacao nibs (milled to a fine powder) with carob powder to a 50/50 ratio, and then use as you would the RCP. Russell will be posting his Raw Easter Egg recipe here shortly, and you'll definitely want those ingredients to make Easter Eggs that will make you feel anything but deprived! We have both of these items in stock, so you can still have your chocolate fix ; )