The Science Behind 60 Years of Plant-Based Living

For more than half a century, the Village of Peace community has followed a strict plant-based diet. While the rest of the world is only now beginning to embrace plant-based eating, VOP residents have been living this way for nearly six decades, making them one of the longest-running examples of multigenerational plant-based nutrition in the world.

The community's approach to nutrition goes beyond simply avoiding animal products. Their diet emphasises whole, unprocessed foods grown in their own organic gardens. Meals are built around legumes, grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds, prepared using recipes developed and refined over nearly six decades.

Key nutritional principles that have guided the community include eating seasonally and locally, minimising processed foods, growing as much of their own produce as possible, and treating food as medicine. These are not new ideas in the wellness world, but the Village of Peace has been practising them longer than almost anyone.

Modern nutritional science increasingly validates what the community has long understood. Studies published in journals like The Lancet, JAMA, and the British Medical Journal consistently show that well-planned plant-based diets are associated with reduced risk of chronic disease, improved cardiovascular health, and better environmental outcomes.

The community's experience also addresses common concerns about plant-based nutrition. Multiple generations have been raised from birth on plant-based diets, demonstrating that all nutritional needs, including protein, iron, calcium, and B12, can be met through thoughtful plant-based eating supported by appropriate supplementation where needed.

What makes the Village of Peace particularly valuable as a case study is the longevity of the experiment. Short-term dietary studies abound, but a community that has maintained the same nutritional approach across three generations and nearly six decades is exceptionally rare.

Community members have developed a sophisticated understanding of plant-based nutrition through lived experience. Knowledge about food preparation, nutrient pairing, and seasonal eating is passed down from elders to children as a living tradition, not just an academic exercise.

As the global conversation about food, health, and sustainability intensifies, the Village of Peace offers something rare: not just theory or short-term studies, but a living, multigenerational demonstration that plant-based living works.