It's been eight years since Patrick Tanner stopped cooking and started eating all his foods raw.

But he'd like to see other people get the health benefits of eating more whole, unprocessed or minimally processed foods by expanding his sideline – Patrick's Fresh Raw Vegan Creations – beyond Champaign-Urbana.

Also a partner in a Champaign consulting firm, Tanner makes a variety of raw food dishes for Common Ground Food Co-Op at Lincoln Square Village, Urbana.

Tanner says it's a challenge to create raw foods that are pleasing to the palate. But with four main tools – a high-speed blender, food processor, dehydrator and juicer – he makes everything from spaghetti to banana cream pie without cooking and without meat or dairy products.

Some of his creations include crackers and flatbreads made with the help of a dehydrator and a "save the tuna" salad that uses a base of sunflower seeds and cashews instead of tuna. His spaghetti and "neat" balls recipe uses walnuts and sunflower seeds in place of meat, kelp in place of pasta and a fresh sauce from sun-dried and fresh tomatoes with spices and olive oil.

"It's all very nutritious," Tanner said.

He also makes a variety of raw food desserts, among them a walnut fudge truffle, banana cream pie, cheesecake, hazelnut chocolate cream pie and pumpkin pie.

Tanner is a partner in PERTAN Group, a management and technical consulting firm for facilities and energy. For the raw foods he sells, he uses a certified kitchen in the downtown Champaign area.

The scoop on a clean yard

If you love having a dog and hate the mess, Greg and Tara File will clean it up for you.

Their new service, called Doodie Calls, will provide yard cleanups for about $20 a visit, with every fifth visit free. And they use biodegradable bags.

Greg File is also a night truck driver for Temple Trucking Services, Urbana.

Doodie Calls will take cleanup jobs in Champaign and Piatt counties. For more information, call 489-7073.

Collecting food

Curves for Women locations in the local area will be waiving their membership fee to anyone taking in a bag of groceries for the Eastern Illinois Foodbank.

The food drive will start Monday and run through the end of the month, according to Brenda Stoltzfus of the Urbana Curves. Last year, Curves locations across the nation donated more than 14 million pounds of food to food banks in their areas.

Participating locations in the local area include those in Urbana, Champaign, Savoy, Rantoul, St. Joseph, Tolono, Mahomet, Monticello, Danville, Tuscola and Paxton, Stoltzfus said.

Optical shop opening

Dr. Lawrence Kessler, an optometrist who has offered eye care at the Champaign Wal-Mart store for 16 years, will open his own full-service optical shop in downtown Champaign next month.

Kessler Optical will be on the ground floor of the Lincoln Building at 44 E. Main St., and will offer eye exams and name-brand frames from several European companies.

Patients can get their exams and eyeglasses on the same day, he said.

Kessler said he has wanted to make the move to downtown Champaign for a few years.

"I just like the downtown energy and I spend a lot of time down there, and I just wanted to be part of it," he said.

New massage business opens

Bonnie Burgund has opened Esalen Massage Studio at 504 W. John St., C.

Esalen massage draws from several forms of body work, and is described as holistic and restorative. Burgund formerly operated a Trager massage business in California but later retrained in Esalen massage.

Call 398-1923, visit www.bonnieburgund.com or e-mail massage@bonnieburgund.com for information.

Are you opening a new business or changing an existing one? Debra Pressey can be reached by phone at 351-5229 or 800-252-3346; by e-mail at dpressey@news-gazette.com; or by regular mail at The News-Gazette, c/o It's Your Business column, P.O. Box 677, Champaign, IL 61824-0677.