Eating Raw Food In NYC

Eating a healthy raw diet in New York City isn't really all that hard.

I should know, because I just spent a week in Manhattan.

I was in Manhattan giving support to a relative who had to have some serious surgery at a hospital there. I spent 4-5 hours a day visiting with him, and the rest of the time walking around the city, exploring the sights.

I certainly didn't have tons of extra time to devote to food shopping.

I had no travel options beyond public transportation and my own two feet, and certainly couldn't engage in my normal practice of saving money and time by buying in bulk from wholesalers, since you can't fit boxes of fruit into a cramped NYC hotel room. Even if I had more space, I would have had some problems hauling the fruit without a bike trailer or a car.

So how did I make it work?

Eating Raw Food In NYC: Fruit Stands

Most places in the developed world have abundant supermarkets, just like your home town. And the developing world generally has local markets of various kinds selling produce of good quality. Both are good places to get fruits and vegetables.

Being the arch example of a dense, well-developed city, Manhattan has fewer sprawling supermarkets, but plenty of small corner grocery stores with fruits and vegetables.

But it also has something that you rarely see in other cities in the US - tons and tons of fruit carts on the streets.

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These carts are usually run by hard-working immigrants, and they'll often give you deals if you buy large quantities, which, of course, you'll probably be doing if you're eating raw. I passed three of four of them every day on the walk between my hotel and the hospital, and plenty more as I wandered around the rest of the city.

After I'd eaten the two small containers of Costco dates I stuffed into my luggage, I mostly ate from these fruit carts.

On the first day I bought as many bunches of bananas as would fit into my backpack as I walked back to my hotel room to sleep. Throughout the rest of the trip I also bought mangoes, melons, grapes, apples, pears, peaches, and an avocado from the fruit stand.

Eating Raw Food In NYC: Restaurants

Every day I also had a small salad when I went out to eat at a restaurant with my family. There are make-your-own salad places almost every block in Manhattan, but even the diners and other restaurants can make a custom salad for you.

One night my family and I went to Times Square, which has a Ruby Tuesday with a good salad bar where I could eat a little more amply.

It might not be my ideal "normal" salad, but for a week, a few smaller salads will do just fine.

Eating Raw In NYC: Farmer's Markets

Although I didn't make any special effort to visit them, I kept bumping into nice farmers markets as I walked about.

One of the nicer ones was in Union Square Greenmarket, and I bought a few ears of corn and some peaches and munched on them in the shade.

The prices will be a bit higher, but the quality is pretty good too.

Manhattan Wholesale Fruit

If you're going to be there for a longer period of time, there are a few wholesalers you can shop at in Manhattan.

I happened to visit one because I ran into it when I was on the west side of the borough, and they had a large selection of fruit, including some fairly exotic varieties.

It's called the Manhattan Fruit Exchange, and besides supplying hundreds of restaurants in Manhattan, they also sell to the public in smaller quantities.

Eating Raw, Anywhere.

Eating a healthy raw food diet can do amazing things for your health, so have at it.

Don't let the fear of logistics and travel weigh you down.

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