influential in shaping the emerging modern view of correct nutrition, even if they have not been given official credit for it. Whole grains and beans were not a staple of the European vegetarian / natural-foods approach that I grew up with, nor of the“ health food” movement in this country. I’ m old enough to remember that there was a time when brown rice was very hard to get, and natural soy products impossible. Only after macrobiotics began to spread, with its concept of grain as a“ principal food,” and after its followers began to create a demand, did the whole-grain consciousness start taking hold everywhere. Frances Moore Lappé’ s Diet for a Small Planet put the theory of grain and bean complementarity in Western terms and made it understandable to doctors and nutritionists, but I don’ t think that the AMA would be serving brown rice, as it does at its annual banquet, if George Ohsawa hadn’ t reminded us of that grain’ s existence. * Parsley contains ergosterols, which are Vitamin D precursors and convert into that vitamin in the body. 4 † Source: U. S. Senate, Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, Dietary Goals for the United States, 1977 ‡ Roger J. Williams, Ph. D., discoverer of panthotenic acid and former president of the American Cancer Society, notes,“ The idea that a piece of pie or a slice of bread or a hamburger contains a specific number of calories, and that these figures can be used to calculate one’ s calorie consumption is ridiculous.” 10 § Hauschka says that this is because it’ s harder to convert vegetable protein into human protein, and the extra effort needed is like exercise that develops our inner powers and soul strength. I’ ve noted that the opposite also applies: when people take up meditation, they often find themselves eating less and less animal protein, even if they didn’ t purposely set out to do so.( However, these observations in no way imply that people who eat meat can’ t be spiritual.) 22 ‖ Sources: Benjamin T. Burton, Human Nutrition; Sharon Ann Rhoads with Patricia Zunic, Cooking with Sea Vegetables. a Interestingly, Ronald Kotsch, Ph. D., considers Ohsawa a religious figure,“ and while perhaps not a major one, [ one ] of sufficient importance to warrant our careful consideration.” 30