Anthony, famous for being “The Raw Model” will be coming to the UK in September (date has been changed to 11 May 2013) to talk at the Vitality Planet conference in London. I spoke to him on the subjects of permaculture, diet and more. This interview was first published in the Funky Raw magazine.

What got you started with growing your own food and permaculture?

The original intent was to simply design a life that didn’t require lots of bills and headaches to maintain. I wanted to minimise expenses (without sacrificing most comforts) and have that extra saved money for travelling and manifesting projects. Once I got into conscious eating, the path eventually leads to growing your own. So these two worlds melded really wonderfully. I later found out that it was called permaculture.

Can you briefly explain permaculture from your point of view?

To be honest – its basically a way of designing paradise. Its more than organic gardening… its a way of life. It can include living in a house the produces more energy than it consumes, and having abundance in every facet of life, and living in a backyard that frankly looks like the Garden of Eden. I think it is a birthright for every human – and the beauty of permaculture is that it is more accessible and creates more abundance locally than anything I can think of. Especially with Agritourism (Eco Bed and Breakfasts located on working farms) and organic superfoods grown abroad.

Tell us about your Grow Paradise project?

Grow Paradise was a natural extension of what I was promoting through youtube and facebook via Rawmodel – I really saw that if an average suburban middle class family could adopt these principles of planting fruit trees and berries, and vegetable gardens in their yards, they would be overflowing with abundance within a few years. This seemed more than just green living, it was about personal and communal liberation. I saw the permaculture and food forests accomplishing this.

I want people to be free. I want them to be able to earn money from their passions and live in these paradise gardens that feed them nutritious organic food. With the internet these ideas could spread quicker than ever, and at a most crucial time, so its a must to inspire and show that it really is possible.

Grow Paradise is a social entrepreneurship. Its in early stages still, and we have already done a project abroad. The key is using the events to inspire people via youtube and the rest of the web.

Soon I will be offering stickers, organic tote bags, other aligned products to help pay for expenses, and any donations we get fund the future “planting parties”. We have a few coming up in Harlem within the next few weeks. We show the kids how to make easy smoothies and plant trees. There are few better things to do!

What can people do to help with Planting Paradise?

Ideally, one can physically start planting wherever its possible. Whether its a sprinkling of wild edible seeds on your walk to work, or planting a 20-tree food forest in your backyard, it all adds up.

I love it when a few citizens realise that their garden is actually their neighbourhood… and start to take care of it as it should be… suddenly magic infuses into the area. It only takes a few people to make this happen – that is the beauty of permaculture.

If one doesn’t have the space, there is always sprouting and growing seedlings to offer to friends, rooftop gardens, but even more importantly is to vote with your money and support the people who are already bringing good food to your table without dousing it in pesticides. Keeping the money circulating with the people that are actually walking the talk will result in more and more people adopting these practices. And that is where it will soon be going… where its just natural to have raspberries and chickens in your backyard, or to have cities covered in trees so when one flies over, it appears as if nothing is there. This is the world that I envision in the next 10 years if people actually want it and put just a little percentage of money into manifesting it.

Can you tell me a little about your diet? I’ve also recently added meat and fish back into my diet and it seems that many others are doing the same. Are you still eating a raw diet?

I still have a high raw diet, but I don’t focus on it too much as before percentage wise. Much of it is plant based, but there are now high quality animal products included. Grass fed raw dairy, especially from goats is a truly excellent food for me. Everyone is different. Most people digest fish quite well actually, and there are still options that are tested to be very clean and free of carcinogens. It changed everything for me. I had some times of really bad digestion, and the cravings would be replaced with loads of dehydrated crackers and nuts and would leave me feeling very sluggish. A little grass fed butter was all I needed.

From your experience, what’s the key to being super healthy?

High quality water is key, as is naturally grown food loaded with minerals and hopefully with love. Clear air too. Those three things seem to make all the difference. The details will consume some people… but those three core items will fix nearly all issues in life.

By “High quality water” I assume you mean spring water you have collected your self?

Yes that is optimal… I leave it open so people can do what works best for them. See findaspring.com for finding local spring water.

Tell us about the Vitality planet conference in London and what you will be talking about.

I’m very excited to be coming back to the UK! I worked there as a model in 2009 and am so excited to visit everyone. I will be speaking about “Growing Paradise”… everything around the idea of designing this way of life for true health, freedom, and abundance. Now is the best time to be talking about these issues, and I’m thankful for the organisers to be bringing this info to London.

If you could recommend people read one book, which would it be?

Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway.

And is there one video/dvd you would recommend? 

The Man Who Planted Trees… you can find it on Youtube and Amazon.

Find out more at Anthony’s websites www.growparadise.com and www.rawmodel.com
The Vitality Planet conference will take place in London on Saturday 8th September 2012 from 10am to 8pm. Edit: The date has been changed again to Saturday 11 May 2013.