Let me preface this unintentionally harsh blog post by saying that I used to live with a die-hard organic raw foodie, and I learned through her more than I ever care to know about the benefits of raw food.With that being said, let me begin...

Who here knows about the raw food diet craze? Half of you? All of you? Dont be embarrassed if you dont know, because really, it's terribly self-explanatory; uncooked food. Whatever the benefits are, I am not here to discuss logistics, because as you may have noticed from my bio, I am not "legally" a registered dietician, although occassionally, I play one on t.v.

I digress...

So, the creative geniuses at the Whole Foods mothership have decidedly capitalized on this growing trend by hosting this one night only Raw Food Class taught by the chefs at Cousins IV. Unfortunately, I didnt get to attend as it was last night, and I prefer cooked food over uncooked. It's not that I dont like raw-foodies, frankly, I dont care what you eat. My question is, what will be gained from paying $15 to take a no-cooking class at Whole Foods. Don't get me wrong, 15 bucks is relatively cheap for a cooking class, but is there cooking in this class, or is it merely a learning instrument? More importantly, what are you learning in this class that you couldnt learn by doing a free google search?

All in all, I guess the thing that really gets me is that Whole Foods is seemingly attempting to become the authority on Raw Food Diets. Which is fine, in theory, if you can make a profit off of a new trend, why not, right? I guess I just feel like there are many more proactive ways to become knowledgeable on Raw Food Diets. Join the meetup group, buy a book, hell, go to Cousins or Karyns and spend that $15 on food instead of just learning about it. Right?

Additionally, when I mentioned my crazy raw-foodie roommate, it reminded me of something very important. People who go to extremes, like dieting in this case, are always the ones who will talk your ear off for 45 minutes about their latest discoveries when you've merely asked them a filler question, such as, how was vacation? If you find one of these people, ask them! They'll tell you everything they know, and then they'll probably tell you some things that they dont know, perhaps claiming them as fact. Then do your research, ignore everything that comes off as "cultish," and go from there.

Oh, and by the way, in case you have fallen under the Whole Foods spell, just a reminder that your local grocery store, as well as produce stands and places like Stanleys, all carry raw food. (Rumor has it, Stanley's gets the Whole Foods leftovers!) Just because it's raw, doesnt mean you have to pay more for it.

Maybe it's just me, but all this talk of food is making me hungry...hard, cold, uncooked carrots anyone?