As I mentioned in a previous post about the raw food philosophy and my new book The Raw Food Diet Myth: What Every Non-raw Foodist Should Know about Living Food, there are several different leaders in the raw food movement. Some of these leaders like Norman Walker and Ann Wigmore, are no longer alive, but they have left strong legacies, especially Ann Wigmore. Current leaders include Gabriel Cousens, Brian Clemente, David Wolfe, Victoria Boutenko, Joel Fuhrman, Matt Amsden and Sarma Melngailis, among others. Each is a leader in their own way, making their own contributions to the raw food philosophy. For example, Joel Fuhrman is a mainstream physician in Flemington, NJ. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Fuhrman is a staunch proponent of the fasting, one of the components of the raw food lifestyle, and has written books like Fasting and Eating for Health and Eat to Live. It is important that Dr. Fuhrman has brought this line of thinking into the mainstream for us to consider and evaluate. Sarma Melngailis is the owner of Pure Food and Wine restaurant in New York City. The restaurant is a gourmet, one of a kind, raw restaurant catering to the non-raw foodist. One of Sarma’s goals is to introduce raw foods to as many non-raw foodists as possible.

Given the fact that most of the CEOs of the Fortune 500 companies have at some time dined at her restaurant, she appears to be achieving this goal. Different leaders bringing forward different components of the raw food philosophy are important to legitimize and sustain a movement like this. Given the fact that this movement is important because it makes us more conscious about our eating choices and, if we choose to adopt any of it, will likely make us healthier, we owe a lot to these leaders....Thanks!