It’s Friday already! Today marks a whole week of exploring just a little bit of the All Raw Directory. We hope you’ve enjoyed the exploration so far, and also that you’re inspired not only to use the A.R.D., but to contribute to it as well — adding not only your own links, but any other raw foods links you think others would enjoy. The mission, after all, is to gather and maintain a current, comprehensive, community-run, categorized, searchable, 100% free-to-use resource guide to every single raw and living foods link in existence.

To accomplish this goal, the A.R.D. launched with 20 main categories, arranged alphabetically from Blogs to Vlogs. Of the 20 categories, 19 are rather straightforward (blogs, books, equipment, etc.). But one stands out as special:

A few days after Wendi left for Raw Spirit Festival 2008 in Sedona, my daughter and I decided to “look for Mommy” on the Internet. We figured maybe someone had posted video coverage from RSF online & maybe we’d see her.  Guess what?  We DID!  Sure enough, there was Wendi, dancing in a tent. We told her about this when she returned, and she began finding many, many YouTube videos, photostreams, and blog posts describing others’ experiences from RSF Sedona and previous years. 

Because the RSF is so very special in the way it grandly facilitates true in-person connections with other like-minded individuals, we wanted to honor it with a special category on the A.R.D. Not only would this provide a fun repository of special memories, but it may help convince others who have never attended a RSF to make the pilgrimage, to embark on the odyssey, to dovetail a real-life journey in with figurative journey into the raw lifestyle. So, she rung up her new friend Happy …

… who was totally down with the idea, and then turned to me with that look I know so well: “Jim, can you code this for me? ”  And soon after, the RSF Memories category was born.  A quick way there is via this link:  http://tinyurl.com/RSFmemories 

To use the site, just hit that link, and check out the many sorting options for that category. You can sort by year, by media type, by submitter, by date submitted, etc.  Many, many options!  Right now, there are still only a few links to 2009 RSF vids / photos / blog entries. But, we expect that will grow as people publish their comments and media. To add content to that category, just sign in, click on “add link” anywhere on the site, and enter a title, description, URL, and also note which year’s RSF the link pertains to.

What’s in Store for the A.R.D.?

We do have a few expansions in mind once we hit the road as full-timers for Pure Jeevan. For example, we’ll likely be looking for some “topic moderators / admins” to help ensure that everything appearing within a topic is appropriate or fits well within that category.  Also of note would be some enhanced searching capabilities as well as the planned addition of one new category — “links to non-raw-foods sites that are owned / run by raw foodies.” (Hmmm, we’ll need a more concise name for that one, eh?)  Occasionally, someone will add a site to the A.R.D. that just doesn’t fit in, even if it is a topic of interest to many raw foodies. So, we have to reluctantly delete those right now. Hopefully, this new category will help show support for raw foodies everywhere, even if their business or web site has nothing to do with raw.

Well, this concludes a week of A.R.D. exploration. Next week, we’ll be back to our regular raw food articles!

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If you’re like me, you get inspired and motivated when you hear stories of success. It’s thrilling to hear what others have done, how they’ve overcome obstacles in their way and achieved something great. When it comes to the raw food diet, the stories of success seem endless. Here on the Pure Jeevan blog, we’ve been highlighting these raw success stories under our “My Raw Story” series. It’s a popular part of this blog and we’ll continue to collect and share the inspiring stories with all of you.

Another place to find some wonderful raw food success stories is over at the All Raw Directory. We have a category there for raw success stories. You’ll find some of the stories we’ve run here through our My Raw Story series, but you might also find some others that you’ve never heard about before!

Check out these stories that I just found over on the All Raw Directory:

• Audrey Walker’s Amazing Transformation
• Carlene Jones: Lost 132 Pounds In 9 Months
• Julie’s Raw Reversal Of Multiple Sclerosis

If you know of any links to raw food success stories, be sure to add them to the directory to inspire others! Be sure to check it out from time-to-time to see what’s been added, also. There can never be too much inspiration, right?!

Here’s an easy way to link to the Raw Success Stories category on the All Raw Directory: http://tinyurl.com/RawSuccessStories

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Hi everyone!  It’s late Wednesday night as we’re writing this.  It’s absolutely pouring down rain here in Pittsburgh tonight — not in a torrential way, but more of a steady, heavy downfall. Mass volumes of water are turning our streets into temporary streams, our garden beds into mini-ponds. Most people would stay indoors during such a spell, but our daughter KDcat decided to head out into it for some magical adventure time. Kids often think in this way, you know? And, I think there’s a lesson in that for many adults: Maybe we should head out into the rain now and again. Surely it’s good for the soul.

But for those who prefer to stay dry most of the time, here’s an “indoor pastime” idea for you: Check out some raw foods video!  I know what you’re thinking… “Wow, great suggestion. But, how in the world will I ever find all of the best raw foods videos out there?”  Glad you asked!

Just head to the All Raw Directory at: http://tinyurl.com/RawVlogs. There you’ll find a listing of raw videos and video channels available online. Most are on YouTube, but some have their own sites. We invite you to add links to as many raw foods videos as you like, and/or to add links to as many raw food video channels as you like. Below, we’ve embedded a few YouTube videos from some raw friends. All of these can be found by clicking on the listings at the link above.

Here’s raw foodie Tonya Kay introducing herself and nearly getting kicked out of a Whole Foods!

Here’s Sam (the Yardsnacker) on “Rocket Composting”:

Here’s Kevin Gianni with probably the BEST explanation of organics vs. nonorganics:

Again, if you see a great raw foods video, or want to link to the main page of a video blogger, just head over to the All Raw Directory at http://tinyurl.com/RawVlogs and share the link with the raw foods community.  I’ll leave you with a funny one. Here’s Pete Vincent’s raw-foods-recasting of the classic Jimi Hendrix tune, “Hey Joe”:

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Aside from the community-run nature of the All Raw Directory (meaning, the fact that anyone can add or edit the information there, just like a “wiki”), one of the other key concepts of the site is that it is a directory. In other words, the site is not meant to house much information on its own. Rather, it’s meant to point people to other sites where pre-existing information may be found. 

So, for example, if you have a recipe for raw chocolate cupcakes, you wouldn’t put the step-by-step instructions for making those cupcakes into the All Raw Directory recipes section. Rather, you would put a link to a web site where your recipe already appears (along with a brief description telling people what to expect). See the difference?!

Raw foods NEWS is another example. In this category, we’re interested in compiling links to existing raw foods stories run by the various local, regional, and national newspapers and media. Any time a news story is published at a news media site, we try to post a link to it in this section. But, of course, if we miss one, anyone can post such links in this section. (Again, don’t worry about whether a story is already there. If you enter a dupe URL, the system is smart enough to know.)

When I was a child, I remember being told that the word “NEWS” came from the fact that it referred to stories gathered from the “north, east, west, and south.”  Well, who knows if that’s true?! But, as far as the All Raw Directory is concerned, any raw-related news story is certainly welcome, from anywhere around the world.

It’s fairly easy and quick to add a link. Just put in a title, an author name (and/or the name of the raw foodie featured in the piece), a brief description, and the URL. There are 90+ news stories in this category as of this writing (including an Earth-shattering one posted recently from the BBC announcing that, on the whole, raw foodies are — surprise, surprise — “thin and healthy”), and we know this could really be a wonderful source of regular raw news for many people. So, if you read a published story about a raw restaurant opening, the raw foods lifestyle, raw foods nutrition, or anything related, please take a moment to sign into your ARD account and add that story!

It’s also painfully easy to remember a quick way to (1) get directly to the latest raw news, and/or (2) tell someone else where to go:  Just remember tinyurl.com/rawnews – how simple!

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All this week we’re going to be highlighting different sections of the All Raw Directory (A.R.D.). For those of you who don’t already know about it, Jim and I created an amazing site (AllRawDirectory.com) to house links to every source of raw food information that exists on the Internet. It’s a huge task, but we created the site so that it’s community-run. Housing links to all of the information available within the raw food community is a near-impossible task for one individual, but as a group we can do amazing things!

If you don’t know how the All Raw Directory works, you are going to love the ease and simplicity of it all! Simply become a member (it’s FREE and always will be!) and begin adding any raw food links that aren’t already included (the system checks for duplicates, so don’t worry about that). You can add your personal raw food blog, a raw food business, your social raw food media links (like Twitter, Facebook, GiveItToMeRaw, RawFu, etc.) for others to easily find you, share links to informative pages about the raw food diet/lifestyle, and so much more!

On the All Raw Directory, you are able to flag links that aren’t working (or aren’t appropriate), comment on and rate the various links that are shared, and leave messages for other members of the All Raw Directory. Most importantly, however, you’ll be able to search for and find all kinds of wonderful links to raw food sites! What you can find on the site, what you can add, and how much you can be inspired by the information on the All Raw Directory is endless. The site will continue to grow as the raw community grows! How cool is that?!

Today, I’d like to highlight the RECIPES CATEGORY on the All Raw Directory. As of the time I’m writing this, there are over 650 links to recipes included on the site! I’ve clicked on a lot of them, amazed at the beautiful creations that others have come up with. Below are three recipes I found today on the A.R.D. They are delicious, cooling treats for the warm, sunny days of summer!

Cantaloupe Snow Cone  by Raw Epicurean

MIXED BERRY SORBET  by Penni Shelton of Real Food Tulsa

Luscious Blueberry Lemon Smoothie  by Purely Delicious

Be sure to add links to the A.R.D. for any raw food recipes you have available on the Internet. It’s a nice way to share your love of raw foods, to invite others to visit your site, and to be a part of the wonderful raw food community!

Visit the All Raw Directory today and let us know what you think!

Lots of love to all of you,

Wendi
XOXOXO

ps  Here’s a handy shortcut directly to the ARD Recipe section: tinyurl.com/AllRawRecipes

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