Continuing our tradition for suggesting holiday gifts from and for raw foodies, we present our 2014 gift basket inspirations. These are items we recommend for their quality and adherence to pure ingredients and methods. Although we don't assemble these baskets for you to order, we offer these photos as inspiration for you!

Holiday Basket of Food Items

We suggest the following snacks and ingredients as sweet holiday gifts.

The basket includes, from left to right:

Living Nutz Sprouted Almonds. These are unpasteurized, and are a great product because since 2007, when the USDA banned the sale of unpasteurized almonds grown in the US, it can be hard to find unpasteurized almonds unless you happen to live near an almond farm's farmstand in California.  

Earth Circle Organics Organic Balinese Cacao Nibs. These got the highest (safest) rating in the Natural News list of raw cacao products, many of which contain high levels of cadmium. They're delicious, and make a great ingredient. 

(Earth Circle also offers Organic Raw 70% Dark Chocolate that has been mixed with dehydrated coconut palm nectar, packaged in a decorative round box. Just shave off some of the block and melt it in a 95-degree dehydrator, then mix with a small amount of  extra virgin coconut oil and freeze briefly in a silicon candy mold, to make raw cacao candy.)

Navitas Naturals Raw Chia Seeds. These make a great, healthful ingredient in raw chia seed pudding, in homemade nutmilks, in raw dehydrated cookies, crackers, pancakes and wraps, and in raw vegan breakfast cereal.

Navitas Naturals Organic Raw Cacao Butter. A great ingredient for making raw vegan chocolate candy, puddings, ice creams, pies and more.

Volume 1 Raw Talk, a video conversation with the noted Jamaican raw chef Aris LaTham, and Anna Maria Clement and Brian Clement, the co-directors of the Hippocrates Health Institute in West Palm Beach, Florida. Presented by Living Food Films, of VisionEarth.org. Makes a wonderful gift for anyone who is open to learning more about the raw vegan lifestyle.

The Little Book of Raw Vegan Holiday Recipes by Judy Pokras. This perennial favorite celebrates holiday meals from Halloween through New Year's Day Brunch with a wide range of raw vegan recipes for every course of a meal.

Living Nutz's I Love Vegan Cheezy Almonds. One of our favorite packaged raw vegan snacks. These are fabulous! One caveat. The label says they are made in a peanut-free facility that processes tree nuts and soy. Good to know for anyone allergic to or otherwise avoiding soy.

Navitas Naturals Organic Shelled Hemp Seeds. Like chia seeds, hemp seeds are a superfood, a nutritional powerhouse. Containing all of the essential amino acids, they are a complete protein, and easily digestible. They have an ideally balanced ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, and are an excellent source of magnesium. And fans of medical or recreational marijuana know that hemp is from the cannabis plant, although it is not psychoactive and does not cause a high. But you might feel high just from the energy of eating a superfood!

Living Nutz's Mayan Chili Pistachios. Another addictive raw vegan snack package from Living Nutz. Note that the label has the same caveat as their I Love Vegan Cheezy Almonds: that they are manufactured in a peanut-free facility that processes tree nuts and soy.

Holiday Basket of Personal Care Items

First, a photo showing a lineup of the individual items:

From left to right:


Aquarella Water Color Nail Polish, Conditioner and Remover, along with the emory boards and cuticle stick that comes with them. Aquarella's nail polish (available in many more colors as well) are rated highest of any brand on the Environmental Working Groups's CosmeticDatabase.org, in terms of having a very low level of toxicity (a number 1 in a scale in which 10 has the most toxins). We're pleased to have discovered them. Note that their product is different from conventional nail color products, and you will need to read and follow their instructions in order to get the best results from their nail polish. 

Bee Yummy skin care products from LiveLive.com, one of our favorite stores in New York City. From top to bottom, there is the Bee Yummy Honeymask,
Bee Yummy Skin Food, and Bee Yummy Eye and Lip Cream. We love all of these, for their fragrance and how they feel on our skin. And for the results they produce!

Primitive Lip Liner Pencil and Lipsticks. These great items are colorful and made of pure ingredients. Their variety of lipliner and lipstick colors gives the fashion-conscious and ingredients-conscious woman a lot of options for expressing her style. We applaud this company!

livpurely Coconut Oil. We like the way this is packaged, as it will prevent spills. We love LivPurely for using only the finest, purest ingredients in its products. We also love their Vanilla Coconut Oil, which makes a great moisturizer and/or makeup remover and has THE most divine fragrance, and their Anti-aging Coconut Oil Moisturizer Cream as well. It's made from coconut oil and wild-crafted beeswax, and we get many compliments on our skin since using it.

Mineral Fusion's Sheer Moisture Lip Tints (pictured are Smolder and Shimmer), which provide color in a light formula, and eye shadow trios (pictured are Jaded and Fragile). We love the texture of the lip tints and the eye shadow trios, and highly recommend them!

Simply Divine Botanicals.  From top to bottom: Butter Me Up "You Glow Girl," the only fun, glittery skin cream we know of that contains the purest ingredients. Makes a wonderful way to add festivity to your holiday party fashion looks; Pack Your Bags They're Leaving, a cream popular among customers for reducing the look of puffiness around the eyes, according to Simply Divine Botanicals; Creme de Rose  another one of our favorite products for its pure ingredients, which have healing properties; and Crystal Ally Deodorant, a spray-on deodorant made of the purest ingredients. It comes unscented and in several fragrances too. Simply Divine Botanicals's owner says she is passionate about products that help people to heal, and we commend her for that.

Here is how all of these products look when placed in a gift basket:

And here is a close-up of some of the nail colors available from Acquarella:

From left to right: French Vanilla, Prancer, La Luna, and Conditioner

And finally, here's another item that we applaud, a bra made of organic cotton. Created by Ohganix and Hippocrates Health Institutute, it's the only bra we've come across made from organic cotton instead of polyester, spandex and nylon. The partners are working on new designs, and we look forward to seeing them. We'll bring you the news once they're on the market. Bravo!

This is our article, appearing in a mainstream media publication! Please share!

This exciting e-book, by Judy Pokras, founder and editor of Raw Foods News Magazine, features beverages, brunch, appetizers, entrees, side dishes, and desserts. Recipes range from traditional American favorites like Cranberry Sauce, Apple Pie à la mode, and Squash "Pumpkin" Pie, to global treats such as Anisette Cookies, Thai Coconut Soup and Borscht. You will also find recipes like TV Snack Chips, Mock Scrambled Eggs, Cornbread, Italian Eggplant Bites, Raw Vegan Lasagna, Rice Pudding Ice Cream, and Marinated Portobello Mushrooms in French Onion Soup. 

The book includes beautiful photos, tips and info for both newbies and raw foods enthusiasts, and suggestions for holiday menus--including some fun surprises, like the delightfully inventive Surprise Cake! 

The Little e-Book of Raw Vegan Holiday Recipes spans the generations, with Judy's version of a salad that was a hit in two New Jersey diners decades ago, as well as dishes sure to charm the kids.

The Little e-Book of Raw Vegan Holiday Recipes makes a sweet gift, available in paperback and Kindle editions.

People who bought this book also bought The Little e-Book of Raw Thanksgiving Recipes by Great American Raw Chefs, published by Raw Foods News Magazine and edited by Judy.

I've started a petition asking the National Restaurant Association's member restaurants to  provide fresh, raw, ORGANICALLY GROWN vegetables and fruits in salads in restaurants, and I need your help to get it off the ground.

Will you take 30 seconds to sign it right now? Here's the link:

http://www.change.org/petitions/national-restaurant-association-provide-fresh-raw-organically-grown-vegetables-and-fruits-in-salads-in-restaurants

Here's why it's important:

We who are signing this petition want to eat organically grown vegetables and fruits, because conventionally grown ones are loaded with toxins from pesticides and herbicides, toxins that cause disease. We want restaurants to offer more raw vegetable salads with organically-grown ingredients, and organically-grown fruit in fruit salads. When a restaurant makes a commitment to offer (more) organically-grown produce, that restaurant will expand its customer base to include a lot more people.

For those of us not lucky enough to live near raw vegan restaurants, if conventional eateries near us at least have organic fruits and vegetables on hand, we'll be able to have something to eat when we dine out with non-raw-vegans.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has a downloadable Wallet Guide to Pesticides in Produce that restaurants can use as a guideline. The EWG issues a new, updated one every spring.

You can sign my petition by clicking here.

Thanks! 
Judy Pokras

There is something seriously wrong with our government for allowing companies to sell toxic products on home shopping channels without specifying what toxins are in them BEFORE people order them. It should not have to be that consumers have no way of knowing about the toxicity before ordering the products, such that once the products arrive, the consumer opens the box and reads the manual where the warning appears. I'm talking about QVC and the Stamina Products Inc. Aero Pilates, and I am furious.

Here is the warning. (If I had known about it beforehand, I never would have ordered the product): "Warning: This product contains a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm."

That this product is toxic is especially ironic, because this product is sold as a piece of exercise equipment which people buy to have good health. It says on the front of the manual: "AeroPilates: less stress | more heart." Oh, they forgot to say: "More disease."

Declan Joyce, an actor and man about town in Hollywood, is a raw vegan. And, as someone involved in various charities, he had the opportunity to meet Barack Obama at New York City's Waldorf Astoria last September 24, as he told Hippocrates Health Institute's magazine, Healing Our World (HOW). 

According to HOW, Joyce and Obama spoke for five minutes and posed together for photos. HOW included one of them in its Volume 34, Issue 1, which was published in December 2013.

HOW writes:

As RawFoodsNewsMagazine.com has written in our online petition, we wish Barack Obama would hire a raw vegan chef to complement the existing chefs in the White House kitchen. A raw chef could delight guests with tasty, fine dining dishes, making great use of the organic produce the First Lady grows in her organic food garden.

Aside from that, we wish we had been a fly on the wall during Declan Joyce's conversation with Obama. We're most curious to know how the President responded to Joyce's saying he is a raw vegan! The only other details we know of that conversation are what John Petkovic has reported about Joyce in The Plain Dealer:

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!