Conventionally raised animals are kept under very stressful conditions, in pens, and injected with large quantities of hormones and antibiotics. They're fed an unhealthful diet of grains, junk foods and animal byproducts which turn them into meat eaters -akin, in some cases, to eating their own family members (a form of cannibalism). This can make them incredibly sick. Cattle are, by nature, herbivores or vegetarians, and their stomachs aren't designed to process meat and other junk foods.

Wandering through a local farmers'market is a wonderful way to find locallygrown produce. It's a great environment for meeting local growers and learning about how they produce the goods we buy. The Midwest is lucky to have so many family farms working hard to bring to market natural meats, vegetables, cheese, and fruits. We in Indiana have even come up with our own term: Hoosierganic!

Shopping locally has many benefits. In simple terms, our food has fewer miles to travel than most supermarket munchies, thus lowering fossil fuel use and pollution output. Small farms don't have the need to use as many pesticides and other fertilizers and chemicals and often pride themselves on using none at all. Small farm-raised meat, dairy, and eggs are more likely to come from happy animals than that produced in huge quantities on industrial farms.

by Rod Rotondi

Some people think raw food is a new thing - a cutting-edge way of eating, newly discovered by scientists or Hollywood trainers for optimal beauty and health. In fact, raw diets are not new. They are not the latest fad. Hominids have evolved over seven million years, and for the vast majority of that time we ate only raw, living foods.

The raw-food diet is about getting natural - about rediscovering the natural way for humans to eat. Because despite all the knowledge of humankind - all our science and technology - what will make us healthiest and happiest is to eat the foods that nature, in its wisdom, has provided. This original and longest-lasting human diet comprises primarily fruits, berries, nuts, seeds, vegetables, and greens. This is the way our ancestors ate until the relatively recent discovery of fire.

RAW FOOD for REAL PEOPLE by Rod Rotondi

I know there are a lot of readers who in a perfect world would be doing an hour of yoga every morning, meditating during lunch break, thinking only pure and grateful thoughts throughout the day, and eating a 100 percent raw, vegan, organic diet at all three meals. There is a tendency to want to make a resolution to "do it all" at once. And that might work for about .001 percent of you, but for the rest of us, it's more about incremental change.

Ok, I’m addicted to organic foods and am a self proclaimed organic foodie! I guess you could say I’m a big fan of organic everything…especially organic food; I founded a website called ‘Organic Authority,’ afterall!

As I trained to be a professionally trained chef in culinary school, it was the tasty flavor of organic foods that got me hooked on the organic movement (before culinary school, I could have cared less about organic foods and green what!?!). I simply couldn’t believe how much better organic foods tasted when compared to conventional ones!