'Raw water' and other all-natural absurdities

Apparently 'raw water' is the newest craze in California. Really, this is "hard" news, not a spoof from the Onion. Two-and-one-half gallon glass bottles of untreated spring water are now selling in Silicon Valley grocery stores for as much as $70. The claim from Live Water, the company selling 'raw water,' is that "blasting water with ozone changes its molecular structure."

Any knowledge of chemistry at all reveals that two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom bonded together are water, and that if the molecular structure of water were to change, then whatever the new molecules were, they would no longer be water. So the question is, how can such a ludicrous claim go unchallenged in one of the smartest cities in the nation? How is it that smart people are taken in by these sorts of 'all-natural' absurdities?

The question is pressing to me because, to some degree, I look upon absurdities like 'raw' water from within the wider healthy foods movement. My wife and I are proponents of healthy, minimally processed foods. Commercially, we are a certified organic farmers, and in our personal life we are homesteaders who raise as much of our own food as possible. We've done plenty of research into the effects of pesticides and herbicides. We drink our own raw goat milk to take advantage of naturally occurring enzymes and vitamins that are eliminated by pasteurization. We ferment our own kiefer, kombucha, and sauerkraut to increase our intake of probiotics that benefit digestion and gut health.

To emphasize, these sorts of things have plenty of scientific basis and are not absurd in the least. The abandonment of traditional fermented foods and the ultra-processing of dairy, fruits, and vegetables has been accompanied by a rapidly growing public health crisis. There is consensus that the massive amount of added sugar and sodium in processed and prepared foods is directly linked to the rise in obesity, reproductive health issues, and certain types of cancers. Science doesn't say that everything one eats must be organic, or all-natural, or GMO-free, but science indisputably says that the human body is affected by herbicides and pesticides, that excessive sugar or sodium is harmful to our health, and that raw or minimally processed foods contain more vitamins and minerals than their cooked counterparts.

The problem, I think, has a few parts. First of all, for all the technology at our fingertips, we live in an age of ignorance. We buy our food from the grocery store knowing very little about it. We don't know where it came from or how it was grown. We think bacteria is bad, something to be eliminated at all costs. We adhere to expiration dates because they are printed on the package, with no knowledge of how actually to preserve or store foods. Then something goes wrong with the system-- there is an e coli outbreak tied to California-grown lettuce, there is a listeria outbreak tied to frozen peas originating from an Oregon processing plant, or, apropos to the 'raw' water craze, there is lead contamination in the tap water in Flint, Mich.

Then folks get scared. Although they don't know where their food comes from, they understandably want to do something to protect themselves. Absent any real knowledge about the food they consume, they put their trust in the labels-- all-natural, hormone-free, GMO-free- pasture-raised, organic. No, organic is not a 'sacred cow,' not even to me, an organic farmer. But at least it signifies a strict set of standards, unlike "all-natural," which is not regulated at all and means whatever the food processor decides it means. In any case, based on ignorance and half-baked theories, folks think they are protecting themselves by reaching for 'healthy' labels, and we are left with absurdities like gluten-free tomatoes, GMO-free salt, and, now, 'raw' water.

The kernel of truth, of course, is that 'raw' is good-- Raw foods indisputably contain vitamins and minerals that are leached out through cooking. But does that mean that 'raw,' by extension, is good just because it is 'raw'? Obviously not-- We cook our meat to kill bacteria, and, for the same manifest reasons, we filter or otherwise treat the water that is sold in stores or that makes its way to our homes by way of a city water sytsem. There are cases that can be made against fluoride, chlorine, and other treatments commonly used for city tap water, but come on, you folks out there on the West Coast, use your brains. 'Raw' water is manifestly absurd unless you are tapping your own, regularly tested, rural home well. But it's an even greater absurdity, I think, that this even needs to be said.