The Rawesome controversy and the raw food rabbit hole

Jennifer Sharpe
KPCC

Last week, authorities raided a Venice food co-op called Rawesome and arrested its owner for selling raw, unpasteurized milk without a license. The arrest drew protest from across the political spectrum. A Huffington Post writer called it “a war on food freedom” and a Washington Times columnist deemed it “a sad day for America.” Rawesome had been raided last summer as well, but continued to operate afterward. It’s now closed, and Jennifer Sharpe is among those missing it. She discovered the food club a few years ago while trying to deal with a nagging health problem.

The first time I went there, I realized I’d passed Rawesome a thousand times and never even noticed it. Venturing inside on a day pass, I felt like I’d entered into the L.A. supermarket’s alter-ego. An open-air courtyard lined with mason jars and homemade products you’d never find in the average health food store.

And the people in there, carting around big coolers, were a breed unto themselves. They’d opted out of the government’s food safety regulations, and instead put their faith in Rawesome’s owner, James Stewart, a health food veteran since the early 70s. That’s when he discovered his calling on an errand to pick up some carrots for an organic produce company he’d been working for.

“Long story short, I found out that they were commercial carrots packed in organic bags. I realized the deception, dishonesty, unethical behavior that was going on in my early 20s and I just didn’t like it at all, so anytime I had the opportunity to bring honesty, truth, visibility, information – so people knew exactly what it was people were putting into their bodies, that was something I always felt was important,” he said.

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