John Robbins
Encyclopedia
John Robbins is an American author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, who popularized the links among nutrition
Nutrition
Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
, environmentalism
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
, and animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
. He is the author of the 1987 Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-nominated Diet for a New America, an exposé on connections between diet, physical health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
, animal cruelty
Cruelty to animals
Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse or animal neglect, is the infliction of suffering or harm upon non-human animals, for purposes other than self-defense. More narrowly, it can be harm for specific gain, such as killing animals for food or for their fur, although opinions differ with...
, and environmentalism
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
.
Robbins is the son of Irma Robbins and Baskin-Robbins
Baskin-Robbins
Baskin-Robbins is a global chain of ice cream parlors founded by Burt Baskin and Irvine Robbins in 1953, from the merging of their respective ice cream parlors, in Glendale, California. It claims to be the world's largest ice cream franchise, with more than 5,800 locations, 2,800 of which are...
co-founder Irv Robbins
Irv Robbins
Irvine "Irv" Robbins was a Canadian born American businessman. He co-founded the Baskin-Robbins ice cream parlor chain in 1945 with his partner and brother-in-law Burt Baskin.-Early life:...
. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, in 1969, and received a Master's Degree from Antioch College
Antioch College
Antioch College is a private, independent liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was the founder and the flagship institution of the six-campus Antioch University system. Founded in 1852 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1853 with politician and...
, in 1976. Rather than following the ice-cream parlor legacy of his father, he left the company to seek a life he found more rewarding. He and his wife Deo were married on March
10, 1967. Robbins advocates a plant-based diet
Plant-based diet
Plant-based diet may refer to:* Herbivore: an animal that is adapted to eat plants and not meat.* Veganism: refers to a plant-based diet, with absolutely no food from animal sources ; or completely eliminating the use of animal products for ethical reasons...
for personal and environmental health. He updated these ideas in his 2001 book The Food Revolution, which includes information on organic food
Organic food
Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.For the...
, genetically modified food
Genetically modified food
Genetically modified foods are foods derived from genetically modified organisms . Genetically modified organisms have had specific changes introduced into their DNA by genetic engineering techniques...
, and factory farming
Factory farming
Factory farming is a term referring to the process of raising livestock in confinement at high stocking density, where a farm operates as a factory — a practice typical in industrial farming by agribusinesses. The main products of this industry are meat, milk and eggs for human consumption...
. His 2006 book Healthy at 100, published by Random House, was printed on 100% post-consumer non-chlorine bleached paper, a first for a book from a major U.S. publisher.
Robbins has received the Rachel Carson Award, the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Award, and the Peace Abbey’s Courage of Conscience Award.
In Diet for a New America, he advocates a "plant-based
Plant-based diet
Plant-based diet may refer to:* Herbivore: an animal that is adapted to eat plants and not meat.* Veganism: refers to a plant-based diet, with absolutely no food from animal sources ; or completely eliminating the use of animal products for ethical reasons...
", vegan diet and contains Robbins's opinions on the meat and dairy industries, world hunger and human health.
The documentary film Super Size Me
Super Size Me
Super Size Me is a 2004 American documentary film directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock, an American independent filmmaker. Spurlock's film follows a 30-day period from February 1 to March 2, 2003 during which he eats only McDonald's food...
by Morgan Spurlock
Morgan Spurlock
Morgan Valentine Spurlock is an American documentary filmmaker, humorist, television producer, screenwriter and journalist best known for the documentary film Super Size Me...
has a short interview with Robbins.
EarthSave
In 1988, Robbins founded EarthSave, an international, non-profit organization. The organization was born out of the reader response to his Diet for a New America.The organization works to promote healthy, environmentally sound food choices, produce independence from the medical system and raise awareness of "the ecological destruction and cruelty linked to the production of food animals."
EarthSave's head office is in New York, USA, with local chapters throughout the United States and Canada. "Taste of Health" is their annual vegetarian food festival.
Books by Robbins
- Diet for a New America: How Your Food Choices Affect Your Health, Happiness and the Future of Life on Earth, 1987.
- May All Be Fed: Diet For a New World, 1992.
- Reclaiming Our Health: Exploding the Medical Myth and Embracing the Source of True Healing, 1996.
- The Awakened Heart: Meditations on Finding Harmony in a Changing World, 1997.
- The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and Our World, 2001.
- Healthy at 100: The Scientifically Proven Secrets of the World’s Healthiest and Longest-Lived Peoples, 2006.
- The New Good Life: Living Better Than Ever in an Age of Less, 2010, Ballantine BooksBallantine BooksBallantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann AG in 1998 and remains part of that company today. Ballantine's logo is a...
, 304 pages (ISBN 978-0345519849).
See also
- Michael KlaperMichael KlaperMichael A. Klaper, M.D., is an American physician, author and vegan.-Early years and education:Klaper spent much of his childhood vacations on his uncle’s dairy farm in Wisconsin....
- Vegan nutritionVegan nutritionVegan nutrition refers to the unique set of advantages and challenges that are part of vegan diets. The American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada regard the vegan diet as appropriate for all stages of the life-cycle, though they caution that poorly planned vegan diets can be deficient...
- VeganismVeganismVeganism is the practice of eliminating the use of animal products. Ethical vegans reject the commodity status of animals and the use of animal products for any purpose, while dietary vegans or strict vegetarians eliminate them from their diet only...
- VegetarianismVegetarianismVegetarianism encompasses the practice of following plant-based diets , with or without the inclusion of dairy products or eggs, and with the exclusion of meat...
- Environmental vegetarianismEnvironmental vegetarianismEnvironmental vegetarianism is the practice of vegetarianism or veganism based on the indications that animal production, particularly by intensive agriculture, is environmentally unsustainable...
External links
- About John Robbins profile from his Healthy at 100 website
- Interview with John, Deo, and Ocean Robbins, interviewed by Morissa Lou Williams
- Living Better in An Age of Less, interviewed by Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau