Dr. Andrew Weil's Blog

The article addresses his licensing efforts which fund the future of integrative medicine. The article also touches on the philanthropic efforts of all the companies he licenses his name to. †He believes in a restorative economy and each company that he works with is a restorative company.

Good Business
By Andrew Weil, M.D.

What's the best way to improve the world?

Of course, "improve" means different things to different people, so let me be clear: What's the best way to move from a wasteful, polluting, unhealthy, short-sighted and authoritarian society to an efficient, clean, health-promoting, sustainable and empowering one?

Traditionally in our society, the heavy lifting of such reform has been done by government agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, and by nonprofit groups such as the Sierra Club. But as recent years have shown, politics can stifle government efforts at environmental and health reform. And nonprofits, while extraordinarily valuable, often lack the money, manpower and expertise to make significant change.
Increasingly, I feel that if the world is to be improved, it won't happen outside the bounds of capitalism. At the start of the third millennium, it seems clear to me that ethical, for-profit businesses just might be the last, best hope for the planet.

According to the book Natural Capitalism by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins and Hunter Lovins, we are in the midst of a second Industrial Revolution. The first one was devoted to gaining mastery over the material world and accumulating wealth - environmental and health consequences be damned. But the current revolution is aligning itself - as successful businesses have always done - with what people want now. And increasingly, what people want is a world that is healthy and safe for them and their children.

We are moving from a consumptive economy to a restorative economy.

A restorative business is one that makes a good product that a sustainable world needs, pushing out unsustainable products in the process. An excellent example is Pet Promise, which makes healthy pet foods, and provides a market for sustainably run family farms. Consequently, these farms prosper, while farming practices that are less kind to the earth dwindle. Some restorative businesses also donate a portion of their profits to non-profit organizations, doubling their effectiveness.

You don't have to look far to find businesses that lead this movement: Newman's Own (organic foods for humans), Smith and Hawken (sustainable home and garden products), and Patagonia (organic cotton clothing), are highly public examples. And such businesses need not be small: the Prius hybrid sedan, from automotive giant Toyota, is the highest-mileage (and fastest-selling) car in America.

So when people ask me why my name and face are on commercial products, the answer is straightforward.
First, every product, and every manufacturer, that licenses my name is a restorative one, actively engaged in making the world better:

o Nature's Path makes healthy, organic food products. Nature's Path contributes to the Amazon Conservation Team, which works with indigenous people in conserving biodiversity, health, and culture in tropical America. Nature's Path EnviroKidz brand donates 1% of sales to endangered species, habitat conservation and environmental education for children. Nature's Path has partnered with Runner's World magazine to create a green, organic sustainable marathon and with Organic Gardening magazine to plant community gardens across North America.

o Ito En, the world's largest green tea company, is displacing unhealthy soft drinks with its top-quality line of green tea. Ito En supports cancer research with the American Association of Cancer Research Ito En Scholar-in-Training Program, now in its 10th year, and the Revlon Walk Run, which supports numerous cancer-related beneficiaries, such as The Actor's Fund of America, Cancer Control Center of Harlem, CancerCare, Gilda's Club New York City, National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund, and Ovarian Cancer National Alliance.

o Natural Pet Nutrition makes the Pet Promise line of healthy pet foods. The company sponsors Farm Aid. It also financially supports The Organic Center, which focuses on scientific research and education on organic farming. Pet Promise encourages their employees to get involved with personal charities consistent with the company's mission and even gives them up to three work days a year to volunteer.

o IdeaSphere, Inc., manufacturers of nutritional supplements, adheres to the highest standards of supplement quality and purity. In the heath arena, ISI has made donations to the Cedar-Sinai Women's Cancer Research Institute with the Think Vitality Fashion Show, the Tour de Cure MDA (Muscular Dystrophy Association) Bike Race, National Hemophilia Foundation, and the IHC Women's Health & Education Conference. In the humanitarian arena, ISI has provided supplements to our U.S. soldiers, Hurricane Katrina victims (Vitamin Angels Alliance), and to international youth with Feed the Children. ISI is a significant supporter of the Park City Performing Arts.

o Origins Natural Resources uses healthy, natural botanical ingredients in its Weil-branded line of cosmetics. Origins donates proceeds from sales of specific products to organizations including the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, which was founded by Evelyn H. Lauder; WomenHeart, the national coalition for women with heart disease; Gilda's Club Worldwide; International Gorilla Conservation Programme; Integrative Therapies Program for Children with Cancer at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian; and Delta Society Pet Partners Program, which trains animals for visiting animal programs in health care facilities, schools, and homes. Origins also developed Project Sunshine, a mini-spa program in hospitals that cares for parents of children with cancer. Proceeds from the first two weeks of sales in new stores are given to a local charity.

o Waterford Wedgwood makes top-quality, extremely durable appliances and cooking utensils with nontoxic surfaces. Waterford Wedgwood contributed to the Housewares Association annual charity drive, whose primary recipient is the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. In response to a major heart attack by Lord Piers Wedgwood, the Lord Wedgwood Charity focuses on sudden cardiac arrest, raises awareness for public access to defibrillation, and places automatic external defibrillators in community gathering places. Waterford Wedgwood/Spring USA supports design students in New York City with scholarship and internship programs with the Parsons School for Design and the Fashion Institute of Technology.

o Lucini Italia crafts organic, premium extra virgin olive oil, supporting small-scale, sustainable olive growers. Lucini supports Common Threads, which helps children eight to twelve years old, regardless of race, religion, or socio-economic status, through positive educational programs in nutrition, physical fitness, gardening, and the arts. Current programs include: Cooking Program, World Garden, and the United Movement Program. Lucini sponsors the Annual World Festival, a charitable fundraiser featuring the country's top chefs.
Second, I personally make nothing from these endorsements. I donate all of my after-tax profits from royalties from sales of licensed products directly to the Weil Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting integrative medicine through training, education and research (For more information, visit: www.weilfoundation.org).

The challenges before us are immense. The best efforts of all kinds of enterprises - governmental, nonprofit, and for-profit - are sorely needed. I have been active in all three arenas in the course of my 40-year medical career, and will continue to be so. I am proud to be associated with such superlative businesses, and pleased that their use of my name may contribute in some small way to their success.