EVENTS

POTLUCK FAQs

IMPORTANT NOTE
According to many reputable sources, such as Organic Consumers Association, Natural Solutions Foundation, and others, about 80 to 90% of food in conventional grocery stores now is genetically modified or contains genetically modified foods, including produce. Independent research is showing these "Frankenfoods" to be responsible for a host of diseases and pathogenic infections, including the gruesome effects of Morgellon's disease, allergies, tumors and cysts, and more. About 90% of soy, wheat, corn, and rice sold in the US is now genetically modified, so when buying products with these ingredients in a conventional grocery store, you are almost guaranteed to be consuming GMOs. All but corn should be avoided anyway, unsprouted wheat and rice ferment in the gut creating fermentation and degenerative acidity, and soy mimics estrogen in the body, unbalancing hormones and the endocrine glands, especially the thyroid. For this reason, we ask you to not use any of these products except organic corn, and choose organic ingredients whenever possible. Remember, these potlucks are about living a truly healthy lifestyle, not just having a good time (although that is also an important part of health.)

What can I make for a potluck? Have any recipes?
Take a look at our recipe page for raw vegan recipes, or search the web, there are many free raw food recipes, or buy a recipe book from sunfood.com.

How Much Should I Bring?
Please bring enough food to serve eight people. If you are on a tight budget you can still make enough tasty affordable food to serve eight, just look though recipes and be creative.

Specifically, what types of foods can be brought to raw potlucks?
First of all, understand, the raw food police are not going to arrest you if your recipe contains a small amount of a cooked condiment or flavoring, for example, Bragg's Liquid Aminos (soy sauce), mustard, dried herbs, or such. These intent of these potlucks is to share and support each other in a healthy live food lifestyle and have fun, not obsess over food. However, people often forget this point and come just to have fun without making any effort to create a raw dish, or worse, bring processed food or unimaginative low-quality veggie, fruit, or nut trays, salads from a bag or jar, etc. from grocery stores. So we now require that you bring a raw/living vegan dish that you've made, enough to serve at least 8 people.

Raw food, live food, living food, are all terms to describe uncooked vegetarian food containing no animal or cooked products of any kind. This means recipes composed only of raw fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouted seeds/legumes/nuts/grains, foods dehydrated below 115 degrees Fahrenheit, and certain raw fermented foods like raw kim chee, raw krauts, raw misos, rejuvelac, etc. This excludes meat or dairy products of any kind in your recipes, no pasteurized bottled/canned foods or juices, sugared drinks, refined or heat processed sugars (cane sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, turbinado sugar, sucanat, rapadura, etc.), honey (animal product), or store-bought processed or cooked foods like tofu, bread, cooked or unsprouted grains, roasted nuts/seeds, etc. If a recipe calls for a sweetener, try Now brand liquid stevia (this brand has no bitter aftertaste), flavored Stevias from Sweetleaf (available in health food stores), raw agave nectar, raw yacon syrup, or raw mesquite powder. If you use recipes from raw food books or web sites you should be fine. See our About Live Food page for more info on live food.

Is organic food required for potlucks?
Organic food is not required at potlucks but strongly encouraged, since none of us wants to eat genetically engineered, pesticide-laden food. But in north central Florida especially, the selection of organic foods can be limited, so do the best you can. Please note though, in the US, conventionally grown corn, rice, wheat, and soy are almost always genetically modified, so please avoid them.

Can I just bring fruit (or nuts, etc.)?
Yes, you can, but please bring fresh preferably organic food, no grocery store fruit/veggie/nut trays or food dumped out of a box, bag, or jar. Please cut or otherwise prepare the food for easy consumption. However, please do not bring fruit simply to avoid making a raw recipe. In other words, don't be lazy! Also keep in mind that ideally fruit should be eaten alone or it ferments in the gut with more slowly digested foods, which feeds disease, parasites, funguses, yeasts, molds, bacteria, and viruses in the body.

What about raw cashews and peanuts ?
Cashews labeled as raw that are typically sold in health food stores are shelled either with chemicals or high heat, making them cooked and/or toxic. The modern peanut has been so heavily hybridized and weakened that all farmed peanuts contain a toxic mold aflotoxin, hence many allergies to peanuts. Nonhybrid raw jungle peanuts do not have this toxin, and truly raw cashews are hulled by hand and nontoxic. If you want to use truly raw cashews or peanuts, get them online from places like naturalzing.com or sunfood.com. They are pricey but delicious!

Can I attend a potluck if I don't bring food?
Unfortunately, no. We used to allow this, but too many people chose to just show up and leach off the efforts of others, so now a raw vegan dish is required for entrance, enough to feed 8 or more people. Some potlucks may require a payment at the door if you don't bring food. Part of the reason for these potlucks is to see what tasty, creative dishes we can come up with, have a good time, and support each other in this lifestyle. That's hard to do when there's a big crowd of people with little food to go around. In the past some folks have habitually come and contributed nothing, so please, don't be a leacher!

Can children attend?
Yes, we love kids and children 5 years of age or older are welcome. Please be aware though, if we have a guest speaker or other event where a child might be a distraction to other guests, please be considerate and do not bring your child. Kids tend to have a better time at our outdoor events where they can play.

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