Have you ever eaten at Quintessence Restaurant in Manhattan's East Village? Pioneers in the raw foods movement, they opened in 1999 and have excelled ever since. In fact, they are my favorite raw vegan restaurant (and I am quite fussy!) They use the purest organic ingredients, and their food is creative and inventive, not to mention delicious and healthful. 

Winter is a difficult time for restaurants, especially raw vegan ones in northern climates, and Quintessence has mounted an IndieGoGo campaign to help it through this tough time following an economic recession. Have a look at what they write, and please help them as much as you are able to, whether by sharing their message on Facebook and Twitter, dining at Quintessence with friends and loved ones, or contributing to their campaign.

Pure foods advocate Joan Levin writes the following, and we urge you to follow her suggestion:

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will soon be voted on by Congress.  This trade agreement includes many provisions that could make it impossible for states or the federal government to enact and implement strong rules to label genetically modified foods, or to take other important steps to insure food safety and quality.  

Congress will also consider whether to give the president authority under FAST TRACK (the Trade Promotion Act) to allow trade agreements to be made in secret by presidential appointees with minimal opportunity for Congress to have a say in this important process.  

What can you do?  ASK YOUR REPRESENTATIVE IN THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO OPPOSE TPP AND OPPOSE FAST TRACK!  
Congress will likely be voting on this immediately after the holiday recess so it is important to do that NOW!

Here is an easy way to do that:  
Go to: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
Fill in your zip code (or zip+4 if you live in a large metro area)
You will get info about your Representative and a link to send him or her an e-mail as well as a link to his or her website.

Do it now!   This could undermine many important laws related to health by removing them from our legislators and placing them under the control of international trade decision-makers.

FAQs:
1. I signed a petition.  Isn’t that enough?
    That’s great, but nowhere near as powerful as the individual letter, e-mail, or phone call.  

2. Should I write my Senator?  It can’t hurt, but politically your time is best spent writing your Representative in the HOUSE!   

3.  Where can I learn more?  Here are some links to websites with more information about TPP and FAST Track:

www.exposethetpp.org

www.flushthetpp.org

http://www.citizen.org/fast-track

http://www.pdamerica.org/issues/economic-and-social-justice/stop-the-tpp

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/congress-dont-renew-fast

What could be more loving than giving someone a gift basket of ready-made raw vegan food to eat? Assembling a basket is fun, and is sure to put a big smile on the face of anyone you give it to.

Here at RawFoodsNewsMagazine.com, we're passionate about finding ways to help people eat better -- namely raw vegan -- as raw vegan cuisine is so good for our health, not to mention delicious. Short of sending a personal raw vegan chef to everyone on your gift list (very pricey!), or opening a raw vegan cafe or takeout store near those you care about (also very pricey), a gift basket makes an awesome gift!

A raw vegan gift basket provides a big boost to people who are too busy with their families and jobs to have the time to make raw recipes from scratch. And it might even inspire them to embark on a new food lifestyle.

Here are ideas for three themed raw vegan gift baskets you can give at holiday time. We took photos of our ideas to inspire you.

BREAKFAST BASKET

We suggest you include both of Raw One's delicious granolas: Banana-Walnut Cacao Nibs, and Goji-Mixed Berry. Along with the granolas, it's a good idea to include a package of Nutiva Naturals raw cashews, so that your giftee can make cashew "milk," which is more healthful than cow's milk, and only takes a minute. (See the recipe link below for cashew milk.) Into this breakfast basket, we suggest you also include Navitas Naturals Sun-Dried Goji Berries, Sun-Dried Mulberries, and Chia Seeds. The person receiving this gift basket can easily make another flavor of nut milk by blending the chia seeds with one or both types of berries. To round out the Breakfast Basket, add some fresh fruit, like bananas and tangerines (if you're delivering the basket locally), and a couple boxes of herbal or white or green tea. (If you're mailing the basket, depending on how far its journey, make sure the bananas are green, so they aren't too ripe upon arrival, and maybe leave out the tangerines.) Some pretty fabric napkins make a nice finishing touch.

CRACKERS AND SMOOTHIES BASKET

To create this basket, we first lined it with some fun fabric place mats, and put a nice big pomegranate in the middle. We suggest placing the following in it as well: Raw One Turmeric-Nori Flax Crackers, Raw One RawRitos Crackers, Raw One Garlic With a Little Kick Crackers, and Raw One Rosemary-Sundried Tomato Crackers. These crackers are really tasty and you can eat them right out of the box, any time, anywhere.  We also suggest adding Navitas Naturals Superfruit Smoothie Mix Blend (made from goji berries, pomegranate and acai). This highly nutritious fruit blend is perfect for using in a smoothie. (To whip up a quick smoothie, the person lucky enough to get your gift basket can blend some of the Superfruit Blend with some frozen, peeled banana slices.) We've also added Navitas Naturals Pomegranate Powder, which is another nifty ingredient that's easy to add to smoothies, puddings and sorbets, and packs a nutritional punch!

SNACKS BASKET

For a snack-themed basket, you can add the following, as we've done: Raw One Cacao-Incan Berry-Hazelnut Biscotti and Raw One Goji-Cherry Pistachio Biscotti (both of them tasty treats); Stephen James Organics Cocoa Pili Nuts and Stephen James Organics Volcanic Pili Nuts (these are addictive!); Navitas Naturals Cacao Powder (great for making chocolate candy and drinks), and Navitas Naturals Lucuma Powder (a nutritious mildly sweet powder to add to smoothies, nut milks and desserts). You can toss in a few fresh tangerines and, as a finishing touch, add some adorable fabric napkins. We have also added to this basket ECO Lunchbox's Three-in-One food-grade, mirror finish stainless steel lunchbox.

The bottom line is: Have fun with your gift baskets. Make sure they're chock full of raw vegan foods that are bursting with nutrients, and are either ready to eat, or require hardly any preparation. The idea is to make serving healthy food easy for busy people. Don't forget to add some surprises, like pretty fabric napkins, place mats and handy kitchen gadgets.

Last but not least, here's a recipe for nutmilk that you can print out and include in the Breakfast Basket, and a recipe for a frozen banana smoothie that you can print out and add to your Crackers and Smoothies Basket. 

Don't forget to send us photos of raw vegan gift baskets you make for the holidays, and let us know how people liked them! Let us know if you want us to post them with your name and state or country. Happy holidays!

There's an old adage that any publicity is good publicity. And hopefully Jay-Z's recent announcement that he will go vegan for 22 days will draw more attention to vegan (or better yet, raw vegan) as a lifestyle choice and get the conversation going. Jay (whose real name is Shawn Corey Carter) wrote on his website earlier this week that on Dec. 3, the day before his 44th birthday, he would embark on a challenge to go "completely vegan, or as I prefer to call it, plant-based!!" Then he asks readers to let his friend Marco explain the benefits of such a diet. Marco, as it turns out, sells a line of vegan energy bars.

As L.V. Anderson writes for Slate:

"On the surface, at least, Jay Z appears to be endorsing not the environmental, health, and moral benefits of veganism so much as his friend’s line of expensive diet foods.

"Of course, shilling for your friends’ brands is nothing new for pop stars or hip-hop royalty—and I’d rather Hova promote vegan snack bars than, say, a company with a pattern of racially profiling its customers. But given the convenient brevity of Jay’s abstinence from animal products and the underlying commercial aspect of his announcement, I’m skeptical Jay will be a PETA spokesman any time soon."

ABC News notes that Jay-Z's wife, Beyoncé Knowles, will be joining him in the 22-day vegan challenge. We'd like to see a spin on Caryl Churchill's Obie-winning play "Top Girls" (which features a scene involving five historical female characters at a dinner party), in which Jay-Z and Beyoncé arrive late at a dinner party of converts to veganism, which also includes Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and a few other celebrities.

Let the party begin!