Ep. 329: A Tribute to Trailblazers - Honoring the Legacy of Dr. John McDougall, Dr. Baxter Montgomery, and John Robbins

PLANTSTRONG Podcast

Rip Esselstyn

Health & Fitness, Alternative Health, Medicine, Nutrition

4.8 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 27 November 2025

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today, on what is a day of Thanksgiving here in the United States, we want to take a few minutes to honor three extraordinary men—Dr. John McDougall, Dr. Baxter Montgomery, and John Robbins—who we’ve recently lost. These weren’t just leaders in the whole food, plant-based movement—they were trailblazers, mentors, and fearless advocates for health and hope.

Dr. McDougall taught us that food is medicine and that living your principles matters more than pleasing critics. Dr. Montgomery showed us the power of compassion in medicine and the importance of giving everyone access to real, whole-food nutrition. And John Robbins…he opened hearts and minds, inspiring millions to think deeply about how our choices on the plate affect the world.

So today, as we continue their work, let’s remember: living plant strong is about courage, consistency, and compassion -and- it’s about taking their message and carrying it forward in our own lives and communities.

They didn’t just teach us about health—they gave us hope. For that, we're thankful.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Ray Besselston, and you're listening to the Plan Strong podcast.
0:04.9	I want to welcome you all to a special episode of the Plan Strong podcast.
0:10.3	Today on what is a day of Thanksgiving here in the United States,
0:15.3	I want to take a few minutes to honor three extraordinary men, Dr. John McDougal, Dr. Baxter Montgomery, and John
0:26.4	Robbins, who we've recently lost. These weren't just leaders in the Whole Food Plant
0:32.0	Based Movement. They were trailblazers, mentors, and fearless advocates for health and hope. Dr. McDougal taught us that food
0:41.9	is medicine and that living your principles matters more than pleasing the critics. Dr. Montgomery
0:49.6	showed us that the power of compassion in medicine is real and the importance of giving everyone
0:56.2	access to whole food, plant strong nutrition. And then John Robbins, he opened hearts and minds,
1:04.8	inspiring millions of us to think deeply about how our food choices on our plates affect the world. I feel humbled that I was
1:15.8	able to stand on their shoulders and because of them, countless lives have been transformed.
1:21.4	They didn't just teach us about health. They gave us hope. So today, as we continue their work, let's remember, living Plansstrong is about
1:30.6	courage, consistency, and compassion. It's about taking their message and carrying it forward in our
1:37.7	own lives and communities. This episode, which features a few short clips from their guest appearances on the Plan Strong podcast, is my tribute to them.
1:49.3	And my invitation to you is to honor their legacy by living boldly, eating wisely, and spreading health and hope wherever you may go.
2:01.6	For them, I give thanks to today and every day.
2:05.6	I had another enlightenment there on my plantation, and that I was taking care of first, second,
2:20.3	third, and fourth generation people, first generation being born in their native land.
2:26.9	In this case, we're talking about Koreans and Chinese and Japanese and Filipinos primarily.
2:33.5	And the first generation, they learned a diet of rice and vegetables.
2:37.5	And then they moved to the Big Island to start a new life, and they had their families,
2:41.6	and their families were influenced by Western eating.
	...

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