- 6 months ago
As more people turn to plant-based lifestyles, raw dining is emerging as a powerful movement for better health, sustainability, and cultural connection. This panel brings together leading chefs, nutritionists, and wellness advocates to explore the rise of raw, plant-based cuisine, its benefits for the body and mind, and how Black and Indigenous food traditions have long embraced the power of natural ingredients. Join us for a conversation on the future of plant-based dining, debunking myths, and how food can be both healing and delicious.
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00:00Say for instance, you want a candied yam. We can make that happen. You want a mac and cheese. We can make that happen. You want a good shrimp and grits moment. I had a food truck and I used to sell shrimp and grits and chicken and grits. These are all vegan. So I would use mushrooms as my protein, right? You just got to play with the food because really it's the seasoning that makes it work, right?
00:25If you add that seasoning, and I'm not talking about Lowry's. I'm not talking about slap your mama because the thing about it is if we go back to the tradition is we made our own seasonings, right? You got to start getting in the kitchen and mixing it up. Make yourself a sofrito. Do you know what a sofrito is? Anybody ever heard of a sofrito? Okay. Get that onion, that garlic, the peppers, okay? Some herbs that blend that bad boy up. Put it in the refrigerator. When you're cooking, pop a scoop of that in.
00:54Your Lowry's, we don't need to go there and buy no damn Lowry's full of MSG. Have your neck and your feet all swelled up. You ain't got time for that. We got to move. We got to be more progressive, right? And stop being consumers and being creators.
01:10I love that. I love that. In addition to Lowry's, you know, I grew up on a little bit of Lowry's.
01:15I did too.
01:15Yeah, but what are other things that we all are really into that you would recommend us kind of stepping away from just to be our healthiest selves?
01:23Okay, no shade to Lowry's. Y'all don't get mad at me or anything.
01:27But, I mean, we love onion, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, cumin. That's pretty much what Lowry's is, a cayenne pepper.
01:36So we mix that together. But, of course, you got to think about what you like. That's what I did.
01:42When I first started out as a raw foodist, I started out just eating a lot of mono meals of fruit, which is like eating just one fruit for my meal.
01:50And then big salads. And then I got hungry. I was like, I want a taco. Where is the pizza?
01:58And so I decided that I was going to create my taco meat using nuts, right?
02:04I know that's like, oh, girl, you're going a little too far.
02:08Trust me. You take those nuts and you add that seasoning on it.
02:11You can do it raw or you can cook it. And you're getting the same flavor profiles as you would if you did it.
02:18And pizza, your crust, you don't have to have your regular traditional crust, right?
02:25You can take the same nuts, grind it up in a food processor, and then you pat that up, put that in the oven, and you have a pizza crust.
02:34Now, that's just one way, right? Because if you don't want to go to completely raw, you can still do vegan, and you got to start wherever you are.
02:43No one wants to force you. No one wants to feel bad, and nobody wants to feel like they have to do this.
02:49You should think of it like I get to do this, right?
02:53Because this food is just the first level of healing, right?
02:57But if you can get, if you can start on this path, then you'll see that so much will open up for you.
03:03And that's what happened to me.
03:04Well, you just said it like it is a level of healing that comes with a raw diet or a vegan diet or just more plant-based.
03:11Why do you think this form of dining is growing in its popularity?
03:15Is it because of the health benefits?
03:16Is it because people are becoming more in touch with what's going on within their bodies and the cancers and all the things that are really running rampant?
03:24Well, just think about it.
03:25Whatever we put in our body is what our body is made of, literally.
03:31Every single thing.
03:32What we put in our mind is what our mind is made of.
03:35What we speak and what we speak to ourselves and what we allow others to speak to us is what we are made of.
03:42So we have to be deliberate in our creation.
03:45And so in that, we say, hmm, okay, well, if my body is made up of the food that I eat, then let me be at least conscious.
03:53It doesn't mean that you can't have a moment of enjoyment, darling.
03:57We love a moment of enjoyment.
03:59But your overall way of eating should be giving you life, giving you energy, because your cellular structure will be impacted.
04:08And you will see, I have a 21-day detoxification journey.
04:14And by the end of my journey, not only do people lose like 20 pounds or more, but their businesses start opening.
04:22They feel better.
04:23Their relationships, people are getting pregnant where they said, oh, I can't get pregnant.
04:28Oh, my uterus is relapsed.
04:30All of those different things begin to heal naturally when you change what the cellular structure is made of.
04:37And that's as simple as that.
04:40Yes.
04:40I love that.
04:41Yes, clap for her.
04:42She's giving us all the tea right now.
04:44Tea.
04:47And as you mentioned, like, you over here making tacos with nuts, all kind of really interesting things.
04:52How do you manage to keep the foods that you make exciting?
04:56Well, I make it exciting because I'm an artist.
04:58And I like to play.
04:59I like it to be colorful.
05:01See, we are an energy body.
05:02We're not just this physical body.
05:04And, you know, we eat with our eyes as well.
05:07So the colors are activating us, right?
05:10And so that's what I do.
05:12I make it look beautiful.
05:13What a lot of my clients, whether it be Serena and Venus Williams, Common.
05:18I worked with Michelle Obama's Let's Move campaign.
05:21A lot of children, they like, girl, I don't want to eat.
05:24They don't want to eat something that looks brown and just, like, slopped on the plate.
05:29So I make it artistic.
05:31I make it fun.
05:32And that's the key is that you see, oh, I have these vegetables and fruit.
05:35How can I pizzazz it?
05:36You feel like you're at a fine dining restaurant, and you can do that right at home.
05:41So that's how I do it.
05:42And I get everybody to eat it because I don't tell them what's in it at first, right?
05:46I'll make a soup, and I'll put that burdock root right in that soup,
05:49and their blood is being cleansed, but it tastes so good that they're not going to say,
05:53uh-uh, I don't eat that.
05:55Because that's most of the time.
05:56They're like, oh, what's this?
05:57Uh-uh, Lauren.
05:59No, I make it look good.
06:00It looks like a gumbo, baby.
06:02Let's go.
06:04Love that.
06:04Love that.
06:04And you mentioned you have, like, a 21-day fast, correct?
06:07Yeah.
06:07For the everyday people, like, how often should we be doing, like, detoxes and fasts?
06:12And what benefits?
06:13In addition, like you said, people are finding benefits outside of the body.
06:17But what are the benefits of doing that for our internal selves?
06:20Absolutely.
06:21So it really depends on the person.
06:23There's not a one-size-fits-all, right?
06:25But if you know you've been eating foods that might not be so beneficial,
06:30then I'm going to say you want to do a series of fasts.
06:32So I do my 21-day journey usually every other month for people.
06:40And it's not all the way fasting.
06:42The first week, we are eating.
06:44First and second week, we're eating.
06:46But we do 80% raw, 20% cook.
06:49So you can eat food.
06:50You have your salads, your juices.
06:52You can saute some things, make a soup.
06:54You can still eat food, but there's herbs incorporated in that.
06:58And there's breath work and other things as well.
07:01The second week, we do 100% raw, right?
07:04And people really love it because they get to be creative.
07:09They're like, oh, wait a minute.
07:10My taco meat was off the hook or my pie was off the hook.
07:15Then the last week is when we get into the trenches, baby,
07:18and we stop eating all together.
07:20However, you can blend your soup.
07:23So you still feel satiated.
07:25If you have a lentil soup, you blend it up.
07:27And then it's still lighter in your digestion.
07:30You can do your smoothies.
07:31You can do your juices.
07:32You can do your teas.
07:33So that's how people are able to be successful because I ease them into the liquids.
07:39You don't just jump into the liquids.
07:41You start off 80-20.
07:42Then your stomach is starting to shrink a little bit.
07:46The second week, you're really like, okay, I'm feeling good.
07:49Ooh, you start seeing the benefits.
07:51When you start seeing the benefits, you start seeing your skin and your, you know,
07:55the inflammation going down, your knees or your, the aches are not there as much.
08:00Then you want to go further.
08:01You see the results immediately.
08:03Within three days, you will see the results.
08:06And I think that's what allows people to sustain.
08:09Got you.
08:09And I just want to know for myself, because we were talking in the back,
08:11and Lauren said she's been vegan for 25 years?
08:14Yes.
08:15That's serious.
08:16Kudos to you.
08:17So you don't even remember what the old school food used to taste like.
08:20You don't even remember the chicken and none of that.
08:23Well, you know what?
08:26Yes, actually, I know what seasonings taste like.
08:31And that's all that meat is.
08:33You try to eat a piece of chicken with no seasoning on it and see how you're going to like it.
08:37It's not good.
08:39Right?
08:39You try to do a steak without seasoning, you're going to be like, ah, no.
08:44Fish, no seasoning, good day.
08:47Right?
08:47It's a no for, it's a no for everyone.
08:49So really, it's the texture and it's the seasoning that makes people really enjoy it.
08:55So, yeah, you don't end up missing it.
08:59I would say that if you are going to step more into a plant-based way of life,
09:04you stay away from the fake meats like the soy and the overly processed food.
09:09The key is that we want to start growing our own food.
09:12We want to start planting seeds.
09:14We are living on a living planet.
09:17Right?
09:17And we've forgotten because we have all these buildings, all these things.
09:20But our mother earth has been feeding us and nurturing us forever.
09:25Right?
09:26So it's important that we remember her, remember us, and start to eat from the earth.
09:32Start to, even if you grow something in your windowsill, some herbs, you're going to feel
09:36so proud of yourself.
09:38You're going to be like, oh, my God, look at my cilantro.
09:40Look at my rosemary.
09:41Look at my cucumbers.
09:43And you're going to feel so much better when you eat it.
09:46I love that.
09:47And lastly, what insight can you share for everyone who may be interested in,
09:51a raw might be like a bit difficult for people, but a lot of people are really interested in
09:55plant-based.
09:56What is something they need to know or maybe a mind shift they need to have?
09:59A couple of things is that in your area, you have resources, right?
10:03So while I'm in town, I've been going to a place called Sprouts Cafe, Sprouts Organic Cafe.
10:08It's in Treme, and they have really good juices and salads and things.
10:15So you don't have to just jump out and get a juicer, right?
10:18And when I first started my vegan journey, I didn't have a juicer.
10:21I got a blender from the thrift store.
10:23I was 15 years old.
10:24I got a blender, and you know what I did?
10:26I blended the fruit and those vegetables up, and I strained it, and that was my juice.
10:30There's no excuse.
10:32If you want to eat healthy, if you want to do better, you will make it happen.
10:36So that's how I feel.
10:37And I also want to say that food is the beginning of the healing, but it is not the end-all be-it-all.
10:44We know that from our grandmothers and our great-grandmothers because there is such thing as transcendent, right?
10:50The spirit, it's notâHitler was a vegetarian.
10:54What does that have to do with it?
10:55It's your heart.
10:56It's your spirit, and it's the remembering that we are not alone, right?
11:00And so that's why I have this singing bowl up here because vibrational medicine is a thing too.
11:06Sounds, right?
11:07I know a lot of us listen to, you know, mainstream music, and I like some of it, right?
11:12But what we're allowing to land in our minds, it impacts us on a cellular level.
11:19So I want you all to remember that it's not just food.
11:23It's a holistic approach, and you can start right where you are just by breathing deeply.
11:28If you remember that the breath is your first food.
11:32When you first came into this world, your breath is the first meal you ever took.
11:37So if you begin to learn how to breathe properly, you're going to start making a difference.
11:42And then you say, you know what?
11:43I'm just going to doâI'm just going to change my morning routine.
11:47I'm just going to do the lemon and cayenne, and I'm just going to add a ginger shot.
11:52I'm just going to add a juice, and you watch what happens within days.
11:57You will feel a difference.
12:00That and the herbs, right?
12:01You want to make sure you're cleansing your digestive tract because a lot of mental illnesses
12:06and all kinds of things comes because our intestinal tract is impacted.
12:13You haveâyou can't even absorb any of the healthy food that you'd be consuming
12:18unless you clear some of the things out of the organ.
12:21So, yeah, hopefully that helps.
12:24So much knowledge.
12:25So if people want to learn more, they want to try your detox, where can they find you?
12:30You can follow me on Instagram, queenofgreen.
12:33Y'all come on, pull out your phones.
12:36queenofgreen on Instagram.
12:38My website is laurenvonderpool.com.
12:41And, yeah, you know, Google me.
12:45Everybody give it up for Lauren Von Der Poel and her amazing information
12:49and these amazing juices, y'all.
12:52These juices are fabulous.
12:53What?
12:54Thank you so much, Victoria.
12:55Thank you so much, everybody, for listening.
12:56I hope you learn.
12:57Make sure you follow her.
12:58And, yeah, get you a salad.
13:00Get you some mushroom something today.
13:02Try something different, all right?
13:03Thanks, everybody.
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