RAWvolution by matt amsden

The ingredients are simple, organic, and vegetarian, but the results are rich and gorgeous.

The raw food that I ate as a kid was modest at best. Fruit consisted of the occasional spotted banana, a fistful of green grapes, or a soft apple. Even carrot and celery sticks were really just a vehicle for ranch dressing. Like most families, we also had our share of meat, cheese, bread, milk,cookies, cereal, and potato chips.

Looking back, it's hard for me to believe that was my lifestyle. I have since discovered these foods are quite difficult to digest, contribute little nutritionally, and are even linked to diseases plaguing modern society.

These days I am more likely to be eating a creamy cherimoya, or a little yellow honey mango, or a perfectly ripe peach.

Wow, life tastes good ! Wow, how things change.

It all started one July morning. I was driving home after the night shift at a factory where I molded plastic parts for automobiles. I tuned the radio on my '82 Cutlass Supreme to the Howard Stern show, as I usually did. The first thing I heard was a guest on the show describing the harmful effects of cooked food on one's sexual health.

My ears perked up! It made sense, too. eat heavy, highly processed foods that hamper circulation and blood flow, and soon you're not half the man(or woman) you used to be.

There were two words the guest mentioned that really caught my attention,though: raw food. The first thing I did after pulling into the driveway of my house was log onto the Internet and type in "www.rawfood.com"