Chrisemer Michael - Baby greens: a live-food approach for children of all ages

The information in this book is based on the personal experiences and research of the authors. Each persons body is different, and family needs diverse. For this reason, this book does not advocate one specific diet for every reader. The ideas shared here are offered, instead, for the purpose of enhancing your own thoughtfully planned dietary practice. This information is shared with the understanding that you accept complete responsibility for your own health and well-being. The more choices we have, the more subtle our lives and health can become.
The information in this book is not to be viewed as medical advice. Nor is it to be used in the place of your own inner guidance or the advice of a qualified health professional.
All rights are reserved. However, be at liberty to use portions of this book for private or educational purposes.

Copyright 2004, 2005 by Michaela Lynn and Michael Chrisemer. All rights reserved. No portion of this book, except for brief review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout written permission of the publisher. For information contact Frog Books c/o North Atlantic Books.

Published by Frog Books, an imprint of
North Atlantic Books
P.O. Box 12327
Berkeley, California 94712

Cover design by Paula Morrison

Baby Greens is sponsored by the Society for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences, a nonprofit educational corporation whose goals are to develop an educational and cross-cultural perspective linking various scientific, social, and artistic fields; to nurture a holistic view of arts, sciences, humanities, and healing; and to publish and distribute literature on the relationship of mind, body, and nature.

North Atlantic Books publications are available through most bookstores. For further information, visit our website at www.northatlanticbooks.com or call 800-733-3000.

eISBN: 978-1-58394-696-1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lynn, Michaela, 1975
Baby greens: a live-food approach for children of all ages / by Michaela Lynn and Michael Chrisemer; preface by Gabriel Cousens.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. ChildrenNutrition. 2. InfantsNutrition. 3. Natural foods. 4. Raw food diet. 5. Bioenergetics. I. Chrisemer, Michael, 1952 II. Title.
RJ206.L96 2005
649.3dc22

2005016804

v3.1

Contents

Note of Gratitude

Special thanks to Lars Marshall for your many talents: computer assistance, enthusiasm, grace, humor, and generosity (to name a few). A big thanks to the Patagonia Public Library, its volunteers, and to Anne Sager for never kicking me off the computers. Thank you Jeffrey Cooper, Will Hadley, and to Lars for your technical difficulty rescues.

We give gratitude for all whose visionary work spreads the joy of living foods.

Dedicated of course to the kiddies and to the living child in everyone here, in the days between.

Hearts of summer held in trust, still tender, young, and green,
Left on shelves collecting dust, not knowing what they mean,
Valentines of flesh and blood, as soft as velveteen,
Hoping love will not forsake the days that lie between.

Robert Hunter

Preface

Baby Greens by Michaela Lynn and Michael Chrisemer is a delightful, heartfelt, educational primer and support system for parents. It has imaginative, fun-filled, easy recipes, useful resources, and practical parent-child activities to potentiate the live-food way of life. It represents, for me, the birth of a seed planted at the Tree of Lifeone of much needed support for parents, babies, and older children on the live-food path and natural-foods lifestyle.

The essential question that parents ask when they get this information is: Can a live-food diet be safe for my child? This fundamental question needs to be answered both publicly and privately. The Tree of Life Foundation study of the effect of the live-food diet on pre-adolescent children and babies, by measuring height and weight, answers that question in a way that helps parents confidently read this book. The results of this study completely support live-food parents, their way of being, and their success in bringing children into a new paradigm and quality of life. The Tree of Life study, which included twenty children, showed that the heights of 90% of the live-food children were in the 25th percentile or higher. The weights of 75% of the live-food children were in the 25th percentile or higher. We found that the heights of 60% of the live-food children were in the top 25th percentile or higher, and the weights of 25% of the live-food children were in the top 25th percentile or higher. In other words, about 80% of the live-food children were between the lowest 10% and highest 10% of the scale. Two-thirds of these live-food children were considered average or above average in height and weight. Parents can proceed confidently knowing that two-thirds of the live-food children in the Tree of Life Foundation research study were average or above average, and all children were above the lowest 10th percentile in height and weight as provided by the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention. A properly followed live-food diet for mother and child is not only totally safe, but incredibly beneficial.

With this very important piece of information in hand, parents, following the pregnancy and post-pregnancy nutrition for mothers and children, can expect to have very healthy children, as measured by height and weight.

Once we are clear that the live-food diet is perfectly safe, we can read this wonderful little book with a sense of relief and appreciation for the heartfelt, mother-centered point of view in which it was written. This book is a delightful bridge into an optimal quality of life that is healing for ourselves, our children, and the whole living planet.

I give thanks to Michaela and Michael for their wonderful contribution to the health and support of all families, particularly live-food families. I consider Baby Greens a must read for all, especially live-food, parents.

Gabriel Cousens, M.D., M.D. (H), Dip. in Ayurveda
and director of the Tree of Life Foundation, Patagonia, AZ

Foreword
The Raw-Foods-Dominant Diet

Anyone attempting to learn about nutrition can easily become confused by contradictions, controversy, and the many different approaches. New parents and parents-to-be are, additionally, often apprehensive about how best to provide nutrition that is as nurturing and completeonce feeding with solid food beginsas breast-feeding was before. Add to this the fear of toxins in the food chain, persistent misinformation touting the inadequacy of a vegetarian-based diet, antiquated information guiding mainstream nutrition generally, and the convoluted picture is complete.