Personal and Planetary Health

Ocean Robbins on

Personal and Planetary Health

by April Thompson

Food revolutionary Ocean Robbins has dedicated his life to inspiring others to rethink their food choices to transform both personal and planetary health. It’s a path forged in part by his father, John Robbins, who walked away from the family company, Baskin-Robbins, to become an acclaimed health advocate and author.

Together, father and son founded the 500,000-plus-member Food Revolution Network, an online education and advocacy platform that works for healthy, sustainable, humane and delicious food for all. Ocean launched Youth for Environmental Sanity (YES!) at age 16, and directed the organization for 20 years. Ocean’s new book, 31-Day Food Revolution: Heal Your Body, Feel Great, and Transform Your World, aims to help individuals revamp their diets, and in turn, themselves and their communities. It distills his lifetime of knowledge and wisdom on food, health and activism into an accessible how-to guide. Learn more at31dayfoodrevolution.com.

What connections do you see between personal and planetary health?

In many situations in life, we have to compromise—but when it comes to food, the choices that are best for us personally also happen to be best for the planet. Eating a plant-based diet, organically grown when possible, is not only linked to the best statistical outcomes for long-term health and well-being, it also helps ensure healthy topsoil, water and a stable climate for future generations.

In what ways have you seen members of the Food Revolution Network transform their communities?

We hear incredible stories from members all over the world who are seeing radical changes in their health—reversing heart disease, losing weight, gaining energy and mental clarity. And we also hear inspiring stories of people turning food deserts into wonderful oases of healthy living; for example, Ron Finley, in South Central Los Angeles, who is known for saying that drive-throughs kill more people than drive-by shootings in his neighborhood.

He planted vegetables for the community in the curbside dirt strip in front of his home—and got cited by the city for it. He ended up getting the laws changed, and has since started The Ron Finley Project to create an urban community food hub where the community can come together to plant, learn and nourish themselves.