Bob Moore, CEO and President of Bob’s Red Mill, Milwaukie, Oregon, has been featured in national magazines, TV and Radio networks, and interviewed by one notable writer after another.  ABC World News probably started the avalanche of media coverage when he announced the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) for multi-million dollar Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods to become an employee-owned company.   “People before Profits”, by Ken Koopman, (Inkwaterpress.com) details his amazing, inspiring life story and clearly illustrates how he lived, why he thinks the way he does, what he does in the face of devastating adversity and how he became the generous philanthropist he is today.

When I asked for an interview for yet another national magazine, did this CEO and President of a billion dollar manufacturing company brush me off, refuse to answer my call or tell me he had been there, done that?  Nope.  He put aside some time during the week I specified and, as he does to his many employees when they appear outside his door, and said to “come on in”.  Bob is more than friendly.  He is a compassionate person, anxious for all to know about his humble beginnings and the lessons learned along the way.  He wants the American kitchen to know what he knows about life, how to treat people, and the importance of a healthy diet that includes whole grains.  Not because he is one of the few manufacturers world wide who has perfected the natural stone ground process of farm to table grains and how they are sold, but because he is passionate about people realizing better health and wellness through a healthy diet and lifestyle.

WHAT IS BOB’S MESSAGE TO THE AMERICAN KITCHEN?

I wanted his direct words, and he was not bashful about reiterating what has been his philosophy and motivation to make and sell whole grains —

Bob insists that whole grains done the old fashioned way provide the very nutrients that keep the human gut happy, and thereby, the whole body healthier, warding off the unbelievable number of conditions and diseases that plague us today.     The grains, when processed in this natural way, possess the PREbiotics necessary to feed the probiotics already in the intestines, hungry for healthy food to stay prolific and keep our digestion and immune system happy.   Many manufactured, store bought probiotics and prebiotics don’t often make it to the digestion area where they do the most good.  Nor do they provide the more natural fermentation process that whole grains offer and that healthy digestion requires. “It all starts there,” Bob says. “People don’t realize that their health problems, whatever they are, start in the gut.”