We Made It!
Nov 01, 2011, Updated Jun 28, 2020
Wow, what a month!
By October 1st, 2,000 people had signed the October Unprocessed pledge. As people continued to discover the challenge, our numbers ultimately passed the 3,000 mark. Incredible.
I want to express my enormous gratitude for the 55 (yes, fifty-five) guest authors and experts who shared their time, talents, energy, and recipes. I hope you agree that the guest posts were terrific! Many thanks both to the friends whom I cajoled into writing and to the folks who reached out and offered to contribute. Everyone — and I mean everyone — blew me away with their resourcefulness, enthusiasm, and professionalism (and remember, everything was voluntary; nobody was paid for his or her contribution). The food blogging community is one of the finest groups of people I’ve ever been blessed to know and be a part of, and for that I am truly blessed and grateful.
Thank you as well to everyone who helped spread the word about October Unprocessed. Whether it was through sharing on Facebook or Twitter, writing on your own site or news outlet, or just through a simple conversation with a friend, including others in this challenge is important on so many levels. It increased awareness and participation — but more than that, it continued to build community and strengthen this important revolution.
Finally, I’d like to thank everyone who took the challenge, signed the pledge, and participated. Even if it was just for one day, giving it a go is so important. Ultimately, this challenge is about awareness and about truly considering what you’re putting in your body. I’m pretty sure I don’t need to do any more convincing, though, so I won’t ramble on any more about that!
Later this week I’ll be sending out a survey to get your feedback on the challenge. I hope to learn what you liked best, what you liked least, and everything in between — and where you think we should go from here.
In the meantime, though, I’d simply like to list all the guest posts and their authors one more time — and encourage you to read (and share!) their posts if you haven’t yet, and to visit their sites and see what they’re all about. It’s a pretty terrific group of folks.
With gratitude,
Andrew
- Overcoming the Time Hurdle (Roasted Tomato Salsa) by The Tomato Tart
- Three Tips to Make Sure Unprocessed Makes Cents (Tomato-Topped Sole) by Food On The Table
- Unprocessed – and Organic – on a Budget (Fusilli with Chard & Bacon) by Deliciously Organic
- For the Love of Beans by What Would Cathy Eat?
- An interview with Slow Food USA President Josh Viertel of Slow Food USA
- Kale Pesto by Cooking on the Weekends
- Baked Apple Oatmeal by The Gracious Pantry
- How to Make Fluffy Quinoa (And Quinoa Tabbouleh) by Domestic Fits
- The Salad Dressing Formula by Eat Naked
- Seven Ways to Survive October Unprocessed with Kids (Maple Apple Chips) by Simple Bites
- Plan for Success (Heartwarming crustless pie) by The Fresh 20
- Zombies, Processed Foods, and the Advertising-Consumption Cycle by Casual Kitchen
- Convincing your family and friends (Slow Cooker Refried Beans) by 100 Days of Real Food
- Ten Unprocessed School Lunch Ideas by Food For My Family
- Baked Chicken Nuggets by Kathleen Flinn
- The Scoop on White Flour (100% Whole Wheat Bread) by Bob’s Red Mill
- Chickpea, Pumpkin Seed & Feta Salad by Savoring the Thyme
- All About Gums (Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pecan Muffins) by Gluten-Free Doctor Recipes
- Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Irish Soda Bread by Lillian’s Test Kitchen
- Let them eat cake! (Blood Orange and Almond Upside-down Cake) by 84th and 3rd
- A Few Important Basics (Kale-Spinach Paneer) by Yumkid
- Homemade Fritos by Good. Food. Stories.
- The Inconvenient Vegan (Quinoa with Tomatoes and Basil) by Meghan the Veghan
- The Real Secret to Ditching Industrialized Food – Forever (Power Pancakes) by Sustainable Eats
- What About Rabbit Meat? by Slow Money Farm
- Bulk is Beautiful (How To Make Polenta) by Talk of Tomatoes
- Unprocessed, But Not By Choice (Gluten-Free Pumpkin Applesauce Bundt Cake) by You Can’t Eat What?
- Stevia, Truvia, and PureVia by Andy Bellatti, MS, RD
- Five Tips for Low Sodium Living (Turkey Meatloaf) by Low Sodium Blog
- Sukkot Unprocessed (Roasted Root Vegetables) by The Shiksa in the Kitchen
- Build Your Children out of Stupid-Easy Homemade Fajitas by Dr. Yoni Freedhoff
- Bee Safe! A Tale of Tainted Honey & How to Avoid It by Awake At The Whisk
- Honey Bee Healthy by Georgia Pellegrini
- Judaism, Raw and Unprocessed (Whole Grain Challah) by Rabbi Lizzi Heydemann
- Grind Your Own Grains (Butternut Squash Pizza) by MOMables
- How To Make Sea Salt by Salty Seattle
- Rescuing Rambo by I Love Leftovers
- Poor Girl Eats Unprocessed (Sweet Potato, Mango, and Edamame Salad) by Poor Girl Eats Well
- Limitations Can Be Liberating (Beet Chips) by Fix Me A Snack
- From Processed to Unprocessed (Sausage and Pepper Hash) by Fed Up With Lunch
- Food for Healing & Five Ingredients to Avoid by OMG! Yummy
- How To Make Soy Milk by La Fuji Mama
- Time for an Oil Change… In Your Kitchen! (Greek Lemon Marinade) by California Greek Girl
- How to Make Yogurt by Kitchen Stewardship
- How to Make a Simple Little Cheese by New England Cheesemaking Supply
- Can Your Own Tomatoes by Hedonia
- Unprocessed Entertaining (Apple Spice Cake with Greek Yogurt Icing) by La Casa De Sweets
- Kimchi doesn’t have to be buried in your backyard to be delicious by I Make Pickles
- Fasting and Feasting – A Christian Ethic for Eating (Corn & Black Bean Chowder) by The Whispered Life
- Homemade Vanilla Extract by Savour Fare
- Maple Butternut Pudding by Pinch My Salt
- Building Relationships… with Pumpkin Fondue by Evil Shenanigans
- Roll Your Own Cereal by Attune Foods
- How To Make Seitan by Little Blue Hen
- Maple Popcorn Balls by Eat The Love
Welcome to a new lifestyle Susan…Eating Rules, Small Bites Bellatti and What’s in your Food.com have been a great support system.
Next thing you know you will be buying a CSA from your local farmer.
We purchased our first time share this year. And as an around the clock medical care provider Mom having fresh veggies dropped at the house once a week means more than I can say in taking care of self.
Too exhausted some days too eat but not willing to eat processed junk.
Ok now where is that Eating Rules home made Feta recipe..need to have some fun!
Andrew, Just a bit of an update. I took your unprocessed challenge in October and breezed through it. I have continued to eat unprocessed and am down about 35 lbs. I should say that I am PAINLESSLY down about 35lbs. At this point, it is no longer work and has become my lifestyle. There is no suffering involved and I eat as much as I want. Thank you, I’m a convert.
Susan
Susan, this is so wonderful to hear! You gave me goosebumps, I’m so excited and thrilled for you. Hooray!!
A confession: I reached for one of “those quick little boxes” over this last weekend after having some minor surgery and not really feeling like cooking. I actually was amazed at how awful the processed stuff tasted to me after a month of grazing in more flavorful pastures. Since that particular box is a rather pricey GF/organic version of a ubitquitous comfort food, I’ve decided that I’d rather make my own sauce and freeze it in serving size containers for the occasions when comfort food is required and SKIP THE BOX. I had NO idea that I would react as violently to the lack of taste and texture in this once-favorite meal after a month of eating unprocessed! Chalk up another in the Unprocessed “win” category!
Spent the last few days thinking and reflecting on the 30 day (after I did the survey) and also the last 6months we have been spending studying whole food nutrition. Have tried a bit of everything new. Had to consider time/lifestyle as factors. Then ordered in delivery food I had not had in 7months, uh yuk. Seeing that it takes 3hrs to get out and 2 hrs to tranfer Chris out of his WC and care for his med needs time is important. So we are going to go shopping tommarrow with all the reflecting and thought of some of the new foods tried. Also with consideration of my healthcare needs as a diabetic. (I don’t use insulin trying to keep it diet controlled). So went through all the blogs you listed with my thoughts in order and signed up for all of the blogs that would be of assist… Read more »
I tried my best to stick to the unprocessed rules, even through the power outage in the Northeast! Even though we eat very well already, it was still an eye-opener to be forced to read labels on products I assumed were healthier than they actually were.
I learned a lot too, from the guest bloggers, I really enjoyed it!
Thanks! I’ll be doing this again next year, hopefully with more advanced notice, I’ll be prepared!
This was a great idea! I was off & on the wagon a good part of the month, but definitely plan to keep cuttting more processed food out of my diet. One thing I have stuck to is I haven’t had a can of soda since September 30. I have been making carbonated flavored soda & am looking for recipes for natural flavorings. Any suggestions?
Kudos’ and huge Thanks from the Oregon Coast. Now I am trying a beginers Tai Chi for senior/diabetics program to keep the blood unsticky.
Thanks for the initiative Andrew, and for all the new blogs to keep an eye on! I’m definitely in again for next year if you’ll have me back!