Raw & Juicy: A Lifestyle Choice

By Susan Benton. Photos by Susan Benton.

When the New Year rings in so do resolutions, with the most popular goals being to improve physical wellbeing, eat healthy food, lose weight, exercise more, change dietary lifestyle, drink less alcohol, improve mental wellbeing, think positively, laugh more, and enjoy life, to name a few.

Visiting or residing on 30A near the waters edge can help with some of the above, but when seeking quality sources to meet dietary needs, your best bet is to head to Raw & Juicy, an Airstream located on 30A in Seaside.

Jenifer Kuntz, owner of Raw & Juicy, knows a thing or two about the search for tasty and healthy raw food selections. When she moved to 30A more than 10 years ago, she made it her mission to source out the best. She found, as have many, that fresh, light, raw, vegetarian, and vegan offerings were slim, and explained, “In searching for whole foods and in trying to find my place on 30A, I felt like a cat trying to get out of a bag.”

On a whim she bought an Airstream and had to retro fit the trailer, find equipment, and get organic distributors, something difficult to do in the South. She spent months looking for a place to locate the trailer along 30A with no luck, until she had a sit down with Seaside co-founder Daryl Davis to discuss the idea of a juice bar, and the opportunity was born.

To gain more community support and to share the knowledge of what she was trying to accomplish (educating the community on living a healthier lifestyle), she began the Seaside Farmers Market in 2008. Now, eating a high quality, locally-sourced diet of organic foods is at everyone’s fingertips, and Kuntz also adapts her real-food cleansing program to meet her customers’ needs. “A raw and juicy lifestyle is not a single meal, but a choice that looks good on everyone,” she said.

Raw & Juicy makes eating clean a breeze, with a daily chalkboard menu filled with delectable green juices, smoothies, and live whole food options. Everything is made from scratch by hand, and all selections are delicious. Popular choices include the veggie-hummus wrap, kale salad, raw yogurt parfait with strawberries and the Costa Rican bowl, perfect for those on the run or needing to get back to the beach. It is nourishing and satisfying, filled with brown rice, black beans, salsa, avocado, and a squeeze of lime.

In June 2014, Raw & Juicy was named one of USA Today’s 10 Best Juice Bars across the country. As a raw food chef from Matthew Kenney Academy and an Ayurvedic Consultant from Maharishi University, Kuntz also makes guest chef appearances and teaches classes in raw food preparation, yoga and hosts raw food retreats.

If seeking a lasting change, Kuntz says, “Choose a New Year’s resolution that nourishes your mind, body and spirit, like a 10-minute meditation, daily gratitude practice, or incorporating a green juice into your diet and you will see a real transformation in your entire being.”

Raw & Juicy is located at 2255 East County Highway 30-A in Seaside. For more information on Raw & Juicy, the classes, appearances and retreats, visit their website at www.rawandjuicylife.com or call (850) 231-0043.

Susan Benton is a food and travel journalist, blogger, and the owner of 30AEATS.com where she shares her passion and her commitment to promoting local farmers, fishermen, chefs, artisans and restaurants along the Gulf Coast.

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