Reviewed by Anna Hays, age 18

As a follow up to my essential fatty acid article, I decided it would be fun to do a review for a product full of healthy essential fatty acids. Let me introduce you to a wonderful company, Living Tree Community organically grown foods.

This company is focused on bringing the highest quality nuts and dried fruits to its consumers. All of their raw nuts are truly unheated and in their natural state to ensure that the enzymes and essential fatty acids are not destroyed. They only make small batches of nut butter at a time, and monitor the temperature of the machines, making sure the nut butters stay cool. Many companies today cannot be trusted even if their nut butters are labeled “raw”. For instance, other brands of nut butter are labeled raw but in fact exceed enzyme-deactivating temperatures during production. Once you taste Living Tree nut butters you’ll become aware just how roasted other brands of “raw” nut butters really are! Unless you’re a raw foodist, this information might not be important to you, but I know for me it is VERY important! Living Tree nut butters are also organic, another important factor for me in deciding what and what not to eat.

If you’re at all like me, you like variety in your diet. Living Tree sells many different varieties of raw nut butter. You’ll never get bored or go hungry! They sell the staples: almond butter and tahini, which are by far the best I have tasted. But they also sell a host of more exotic butters such as the creamiest, sweetest Cashew Butter ever, Xanadu Butter, a mix of almond and cashew, and a luscious Black Sesame Tahini which is incredible. There’s quite a bit to choose from and once you try one you’ll want to try them all! Their Black Tahini, in particular, is especially high in calcium, which is important for supporting healthy bones.

I must admit, I have quite a few Living Tree products in my fridge, but for the sake of this review, I will focus on their raw almond butter, original white sesame tahini and California sun-dried olives.

The raw almond butter is rich and full of flavor. You can taste jam-packed nutrition in every spoonful. It is a concentrated source of energy and nutrients, important for a growing teen. This butter makes a great spread on apples, pears, celery and cucumber. It also makes a delicious nut milk when combined with purified water, a little coconut water and a vanilla bean! Living Tree says that the first ingredient in their raw almond butter is devotion, and you can taste how much care went into this special treat.

The tahini has a creamy texture and pleasant sesame flavor. I found it to be a bit bitter, so I tried combining it with some other ingredients. I made a delicious salad dressing with tahini, lemon juice, dulse seaweed, celtic salt and cayenne. I also made a sweet spread with the tahini, mixing it with agave nectar, cinnamon and soaked goji berries. The bitterness is easily taken care of when paired with something sweet and crunchy like an apple of Asian pear. Other tahinis that I’ve tried have been crumbly and dry, Living Trees raw tahini is smooth and rich..

The last product that I tried was California sun-dried olives. Olive are a favorite food of mine, and when I went raw I thought I would never have another olive again. That was until I found raw, sea salt cured olives in glass jars. I’ve tried quite a few, from many different raw food companies, and Living Tree’s olives rival with the best. They are not cured in brine, but rather packed with a light olive oil coating, sea salt and spices. Unlike other raw olives, they are not packed in vinegar or garlic, which let’s the olives natural flavor come out. They are very rich and salty, so I’d recommend using these olives in a dressing or chopped in a green salad. I tried using these olives in an avocado “sandwich.” I chopped a handful of olives into pieces, mixed them with an avocado, tomatoes and lemon juice, then rolled it all up in a collard green leaf! Olives are once of the most mineral dense fruits on earth. Paired with sea salt, they are said to help the body maintain a proper fluid balance. Olives are also rich in beautifying monounsaturated oils.

Living Tree Community has a wonderful website that allows you to browse all of their products and place orders. They have impeccable customer service, possibly the best I have ever encountered. They take great care in their customer’s needs, and will communicate directly with you so you receive everything you asked for. Their products are shipped out quickly, and if they undergo any sort of damage during the shipping process, Living Tree will gladly replace the damaged product. This is something that can’t be said about all companies.

You may also like to know that they carry other organic food items besides raw nut butters. They sell truly raw, organic nuts like almonds and pine nuts. Make sure to check out their vast assortment of dried fruits such as organic Fiha bananas, papaya, nectarines, peaches, apricots and coconut flakes. They also carry sun-dried olives, dulse, and a sun-dried vanilla bean that adds a wonderful flavor to smoothies and raw fruit desserts. Their olive oil is also truly raw, unfiltered. Instead of pressing the olives, which causes heat, they use a special process to separate the solids from liquid which ensures the oil stays below 70 degrees Fahrenheit. This olive oil is decadent and much different from the partially cooked olive oils purchased in health food stores. Living Tree has different specials that go on throughout the year, such as buy three get one free, and they also carry different nuts and fruits as they come into season.

As a raw foodist, it’s hard to find a company that is dependable and committed to bringing the highest quality, organic, raw foods to its customers. Living Tree has a great respect for the special needs of individual customers, such as raw foodists. When ordering from Living Tree you can rest assured that you are in fact receiving truly raw, organic items grown with love. Thank you Living Tree for bringing healthy, delicious, organically grown RAW foods to our homes!