Katarina Tawiri
Food for Life course opens new doors "It blew me away. The knowledge that was shared was absolutely amazing, and the ongoing support you get is excellent." By Peter Barclay
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atarina Tawiri has always been interested in food and food production, but her introduction to it, although traditional in many countries around the globe, is a long way from the way she sees and does things now. "I'm originally from Switzerland. In those days, in the 70s, the girls had to do a cooking class when they left high school. I chose to do a one-year self-sufficiency apprenticeship on a farm and learned everything about gardening, food preserving, cooking, sewing and small animal husbandry.
Four-year farming certification
"After working for a year as a nurse aid in a private hospital in Zürich, looking after famous soccer players and the Princess of Bhutan, amongst some of the people, I started my four-year apprenticeship as a farmer (being one of the few females in those days). This is when I was faced with the often cruel reality of animal farming. But, of course, as a young female, I did not dare to speak up. I was part of some really awful practices during my farming time." When asked if she ever rebelled against it, Katarina says she just did what she was told, "like most of humanity, you want to fit in. "I think it's a kind of cognitive dissonance because the world around us says it's okay, so I just ignored my inner feelings. But, the thing is, I never liked meat, although I had to eat it, of course. As soon as I left home, I stopped eating meat."
Animal cruelty
About the animal cruelty on farms, Katarina says she never really stopped and thought about it more deeply when she was training to be a farmer. "After a while, it becomes normal. I don't know how it psychologically works, but it's called cognitive dissonance. You have to disassociate yourself from your innate feelings; although there are children who take a stand when very small. They say they're not going to eat meat, even when they're in a meat-eating family. It does happen, but the majority of us humans just want to fit in and not be different to everyone else."humans just want to fit in and not be different to everyone else."
14 wholefoodliving.life | Autumn 2023
A lifelong awareness around food has led Katarina Tawiri to take a bold step. Here she explains some of the reasons for her move but if you want to know more, check her out at: plantiseyourworld.co.nz As a plant-based advocate Katarina is a keen follower of the Mission Critical Zoom event run by PCRM. To join its followers go to: pcrm.org/events/mission-critical A new journey
Katarina has been a vegetarian almost all of her life, and in 2006 got invited by a friend to an ‘Uncooking Class’ by Wild Health Nelson. This is when she was introduced to the concept of raw food. “I then decided to go ‘cold tofu’ and eat only raw for one year. I did incorporate some raw fish, because I was still caught up in the protein myth. This was also the time when I heard about Kris Carr, New York Times bestseller, who has a rare vascular cancer and keeps it at bay by eating high raw vegan. "But like so many people, life happened, and I went back to eating what I was familiar with, vegetarian, including dairy, eggs and oil. Fast forward, and I turned 50, mostly feeling exhausted, without energy or joy for life. After having several anxiety attacks, and doctors saying ‘just relax more, you are all fine’, I started searching for answers on the Internet and came across Dr Brooke Goldner’s protocol called ‘hyper-nourishing’. She is specialised in reversing autoimmune diseases with green smoothies and reversed her own lupus. In classic Katarina-style, "I went all in. I did Dr Goldner’s free online course to better understand how plant foods, especially raw cruciferous vegetables and leafy greens, combined with high doses of Omega 3s (flax and chia seeds for anti-inflammatory properties), support cellular repair. This was followed by me doing
