QuestionI've been working towards a raw diet (eating raw fruit and nuts for breakfast and lunch) but would like to expand into raw meats as well. I have celiac, so I cut all sorts of processed grains out of my diet long ago. I seldom eat potatos or similar starches with the exception of rice. I typically avoid any processed, sugary foods because I dislike the taste of sugar generally (although I do like ice cream sometimes).
I don't know how to go about finding raw dairy products locally -- such as milk, butter or cheese.
I have always eaten only very rare steaks and sashimi, but I'm concerned about the cleanliness of other raw meats such as chicken or entirely uncooked red meats that aren't prepared by a qualified chef. I can't see how store bought ground meat of any sort would be particularly safe and I don't have the time (with work) to prepare raw meats at home. I have recently moved my dogs to an all-raw diet, which includes raw meats (which are pre-packed and frozen). I've wondered whether these meats might actually be safer to eat than store bought meats -- because they are intended for raw consumption. But these meats include bone and organ tissue that humans wouldn't normally eat (dogs in the wild, of course, would).
I know that I feel better as I eat less processed and cooked foods; I also know that my dogs have reacted well to their new diet. They no longer crave bowls after bowl of water as they did when eating processed dog kibble.
I would like any suggestions or guidance you have for locating raw meat products that are safe to eat and require minimal time on my part preparing or cleaning them. Thanks!
AnswerRe dairy:- Given that pasteurised dairy is often implicated in the case of auto-immune-diseases(coeliac disease being just on such example), I would advise you to lay off the raw dairy(or if you really have to try it, to just use very small amounts to see if it affects you in any negative way). I know that some rawists make all sorts of claims such as that raw dairy is not allergenic etc., but it's wise to take precautions, given so many damning reports re dairy and grains and their effects on those with coeliac.
If you do wish to try some raw dairy, then this is the most useful website for finding the relevant farms which sell the stuff:-
http://www.realmilk.com/where.html
Just click on the relevant links on the above sites to find the raw-dairy sources in your area.
Re preparing foods etc.:- First of all, I should make clear that there's really no need to worry re all those unfounded scares re bacteria,parasites, trichinosis in pork, cleanliness of chicken etc. Rawpalaeodieters have spent years eating large amounts of those very raw animal foods, (including plenty of aged, bacteria-rich raw meat, in many cases) without ever having the food-poisoning that the media like to claim. What RPDers are more concerned about is whether the animals are raised in an organic farm, given appropriate nutrition etc.
That said, I quite understand your position, at this stage. When I first started on this diet, I too was extremely apprehensive re all these issues. I would use all sorts of standard herbal remedies vs parasites such as cayenne-pepper, raw garlic, wormwood tincture, pumpkin seeds etc. - I'd also be highly reluctant to eat any fresh, raw meat that had been left in the fridge for more than a day or two, at most. But, over time, I got used to it, and didn't feel the need for such remedies, anymore.
Some beginners who are apprehensive about eating raw meat, simply marinate the raw fish/meat etc. in unpasteurised, freshly-squeezed lemon-juice for between 8 to 24 hours, basically making a "ceviche".
Store-bought meat is often dodgy, coming from grain-fed animals etc., and the few high-quality meats found in some stores(eg:- the Wholefoods chain)can be quite expensive due to retail-costs being added etc.. To be sure of high-quality animal-food, it's best if you buy regular orders from small,local farms within your area/State. If you're based in the US, then searching for your State on the online grassfed directory www.eatwild.com should give you a list of farms selling high-quality grassfed meats/organ-meats.(Many countries should have at least 3 or 4 online organic food directories where one can locate the right food-source, with even more, I'm sure, for the US.
The advantage of using (organic/grassfed)farms is that, you can get the meats direct from the source - you're also able to find out exactly what the animals are fed on(whereas store-managers etc. often haven't a clue), and the meats are usually of much higher quality than store-bought meat, plus retail-costs aren't added onto the price. You can get the food delivered direct to your door, which costs a bit(they usually store ice-packs with the raw meats so delivery isn't a complication if you're concerned about that) - of course, if you're prepared to drive once a week to the farm(or, perhaps, once a fortnight if you buy primarily prefrozen meats and store them immediately in the freezer) to collect your order, you won't have to pay any delivery-charges.
The other great advantage of farms is that, in most cases, you can get them to cut the meats up beforehand how you like it and/or have the meat prefrozen(or perhaps even cleaned?), if that's what you want. Plus, you're much more likely to get the meat from a farm soon after the slaughter of the relevant animal, whereas store-bought meat would be kept for longer,for obvious reasons.
Prefreezing raw meat is generally considered to be slightly harmful to the meat, with slow-freezing such as putting fresh, raw,nonfrozen meats in the freezer, being viewed as more damaging to the meat than buying meat that's been "quick-frozen" from the relevant farmer/producer. This is nothing really to worry about at this stage, and besides prefrozen raw meat is way, way healthier than eating well-cooked meat, it's just something to consider once you've got used to it all.
((Organic?)Farmers' markets are an option if there are any in your local area, but I've been told that the American ones aren't as reliable as the British ones, with them mostly selling only raw fruit and veg, but no raw meats).
Lastly, I should mention that the one big advantage of raw meats is that you need so little time to prepare them. These days, with most of my raw meats, all I have to do is take it out of the fridge, use a meat-knife on the meat for a couple of minutes at the most, and I'm done re food-preparation. In the past, I'd add a little pepper etc. enhance taste etc. but I don't see the point any more. Of course, with prefrozen meat, you'd have to leave it out of the fridge to thaw for some time, but that's all.
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