Vegetarian Action
The Goldbecks: Pioneers of the Whole Foods Movement
By Lacey Levitt
When Nikki and David Goldbeck's The Healthiest Diet in the World was published last September, it represented more than just another cookbook hitting the stores. The book is a culmination of the couple's remarkably long and successful career as pioneers in the world of whole foods.
The Goldbecks, who reside in Woodstock, New York, have been promoting the philosophy that "foods that are closest to their natural state are best for you" for years. Nikki wrote Cooking What Comes Naturally in 1972; it went largely unnoticed. The next year, she and her husband David, a lawyer well-versed in the legal jargon found in food labeling laws, came out with The Supermarket Handbook and everything changed. The Handbook is essentially a consumer guide for purchasing whole foods, i.e., those in their natural state. The book became a bestseller and transformed the way many Americans looked at their diets.
The Goldbecks' crusade began in 1963, when Nikki started writing about whole foods. She received a BS in food and nutrition from Cornell University, an education which did not include any discussion of whole foods or vegetarianism. Incidentally, she became a vegetarian at the age of twenty-two, initially because she was "concerned about the antibiotics and hormones involved in raising meat. Over time, my vegetarianism evolved for many reasons including health and animal rights. Why kill something when there are plenty of things you don't have to kill to eat?"
After Cornell, Nikki went to work at a public relations firm doing recipe development and food photography. She learned how to write recipes and how to convey ideas about food, then left, disappointed that the actual merit of the food items seemed to have little place in the world of big business advertising. She wanted to "use knowledge to promote foods that were more of a benefit to people's' long term health."
The Supermarket Handbook did just that. It awakened the nation to the importance of consuming foods in an unprocessed state, foods that had not been treated with artificial flavors, colors, or chemicals. Its success reflects what Nikki considers to be "a widespread interest in people all over the country in eating better." Because of the Goldbecks and other proponents of the whole foods movement, consumers began demanding more natural foods. Since, as Nikki says, "Shopping is like voting," manufacturers began minimizing the amount of chemicals used on their products. The Goldbecks appeared on Donahue and ABC News and were featured in Self and Vegetarian Times, among other media, spreading the whole foods philosophy to the world.
In 1977, the couple founded Ceres Press (Ceres being the goddess of grain), to publish books focusing on food, nutrition, and consumer issues. About seven publications have been issued through the press, including the Gold-becks' own American Wholefoods Cuisine and The Great Breakfast Book, as well as the works of other wholefoods supporters. All of the books involve health and the environment, for the Goldbecks realize the importance of combining home ecology such as recycling with the whole foods philosophy. Nikki aims to "create personal and world health."
Throughout her career, Nikki has noticed great changes in the general attitude toward whole foods and meatless dining. "In the 1970s, people would always ask, 'Why become vegetarian?' Now they ask how." She sees more restaurants offering vegetarian choices and hears "absolutely no" skepticism concerning the nutritional adequacy of vegetarian meals.
Nikki's own views have remained surprisingly stable over the years. Her consumption of dairy has decreased while her use of legumes, soy products, and nuts has increased. Overall, however, her choice of foods for herself and her advisees remains largely unchanged. Her goal continues to be to "reach as many people as possible and help them enjoy a more healthful diet." She aims especially to "make foods an enjoyable part of peoples' lives."
Nikki is able to support herself working exclusively in the whole foods movement, by writing, publishing, and operating her own private nutritional practice. She notes that there are many growing natural food companies and more health food stores than ever before. "The field of nutrition has a lot to offer," she suggests, and encourages others who aspire to make their living from whole foods to follow their hearts, not their wallets: "Do what you believe in and what you think makes a difference in the world. Make lifestyle choices based on that, not on money."
Nikki feels that the new leaders of the wholefoods movement are more interested in making foods pleasurable than she and her peers are. Among the newer leaders, there exists "a stronger movement toward veganism." The animal rights movement, she says, has made people more aware of the appeal of whole foods. Interest in them is still growing, as is the industry, but there are still changes Nikki would like to see made. Food labels should, she suggests, list the source of all ingredients so that, for instance, consumers would know that their milk was supplied by a cow that had been placed on growth hormones. Still, she reflects positively on the present state of the whole foods movement: "There are better educated and more aware consumers than ever before."
Nikki and David have written The Healthiest Diet in the World for those very consumers and consider it their greatest achievement to date. In it, "we have tried to synthesize our work of the last twenty years in one place." It is, Nikki says, much more vegan-oriented than their earlier books because she believes that people need to pay more attention to produce, soy, and beans in their diet. She hopes that The Healthiest Diet, along with her and David's other works, will continue to serve as an important resource to readers: "I'm pleased I've been able to make a positive contribution to people's lives."
