Wonderful interview, thanks for sharing this.
There is a raw potluck in my area, and last summer I emailed its organizer and asked to be added to the group's email list. I couldn't make the next couple (scheduled once per month), but was able to attend one in late July. I figured it was a raw vegan group even though they didn't explicitly advertise themselves as such, so I brought a vegan raw dish (fruit salad) with a mind to mingle and see what the group was like.
It was a fascinating experience. There were about 30 people there, all in very poor health except the "leader" who was about 20 and had only been a raw vegan for about a year. I didn't blurt out that I was a raw omnivore, but during discussions with a few people I did let it slip that I ate animal foods and while chatting with an older gentleman (who looked 30 years older than he actually was, it turned out) I let it slip that, in fact, raw animal fat was the single most important part of my diet and that I got 80-90 percent of my calories from raw animal foods. He was at once distraught and shocked, as when we first sat down together he complimented me on my exquisite skin complexion and the "Buddhistic" presence I carried. He attributed it to the raw vegan diet (that I didn't follow), of course.
By the end of the four hour potluck everyone in the room knew that I wasn't vegan. While they would certainly have attacked me if they had the anonymity of the internet in their favor, no one said anything hostile to me in person. One young woman kept looking at me as if she was just begging me to ask for her number, although she was so emaciated that I didn't find her remotely attractive. After that potluck the "leader" removed my name from his email list, and no longer responded to my requests to be put back on.
Just as well. Once I finish my dissertation and have a little more time, I'm toying with the idea of starting a RVAF potluck in my area. I think there would be interest, as there are a lot of foodies around here.
