Well, I have to admit, the sunflower is not only one of my favorite cheery flowers, it is also a great source of energy in its sprouted form, and to me it is a prominent symbol of the raw food movement. Plant Spirit Medicine is something I really believe in–plants are so miraculous! And when I think of the sunny energy of a sunflower, and how that energy is concentrated in a sunflower sprout…it just makes sense that sunflower sprouts would be one of the most powerful foods on the planet.  This sunflower photo was taken in San Juan, Puerto Rico at my friend Maria Suarez’s urban garden. She now lives in the country and teaches raw foods, as well as growing lots of sprouts. I was her original teacher of raw foods and I’m very proud of all she has done in Puerto Rico, including creating the Society of Roving Gardeners to teach urban dwellers how to grow sprouts and live a raw food lifestyle. She also takes some of the most amazing photographs of plants I’ve seen, and she’s just completing a book on sprouting in Spanish. In the photo below, two of our great Living Light Chefs, Meagan Ricks and Mary Sandkamp are enjoying our sprouting class–look at their smiles!

Meagan and Mary with Sprouts

Meagan Ricks and Mary Sandkamp with Sprout Friends

In fact it was in Puerto Rico that I first studied the raw food lifestyle with Dr. Ann Wigmore, who at the time  (1991) was 80 something. Dr Ann was flying back and forth (with her little dog Precious)  between her Boston center and the Ann Wigmore Institute in Aguada, Puerto Rico. I remember how excited I was when I first learned about raw foods. At her center we were eating energy soup three times a day, and lots of salads with sprouts and “cultured” or fermented seed sauces, and papaya and other tropical fruits. We were guzzling rejuvelac and taking long walks on the beach, and we built up to about 7 oz a day of wheatgrass juice. We also were doing lots of colon cleansing, skin brushing, yoga, and arts and crafts out under the shade trees. As you can imagine, I was filled with energy, and felt about nine years old, needing little sleep. It was quite inspiring!

Viktoras Kulvinskas and Wheatgrass

Fast forward to 2010. Somehow that initial introduction to raw foods stayed with me, and now, almost 20 years later, I’ve found that once you learn about raw foods, you can’t really ever go back. Your trajectory or path may be crooked or straight, but the knowledge you aquire from the cellular level up stays with you. Nothing tastes better to me than a delicious green juice with kale, celery, apple, lemon, and ginger…mmmm. We serve them in Living Light Cafe, and Living Light employees can opt to have them as part of our meal plan. And, not to horn in on Mary Elizabeth’s chia/Mila obsession, but I wrote an entry about Chia Pudding with Sprouted Granola and Blackberries on my personal blog in 2009! My blog has been mostly for fun and practice, ( and about my radio show, Women’s Voices every second Monday at 7 PM) and I’ve not included many entries about raw food on it, but since blackberry season is just around the corner, I thought you might enjoy! And don’t forget the Living Light  HotRawChef Video Recipe Contest. July 30th is the deadline for entries–we want to see your vid! Until next time…Kristin