David "Avocado" Wolfe is an American author and

conspiracy theorist A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

. He promotes a variety of

pseudoscientific Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...

ideas such as

raw foodism Raw foodism, also known as rawism or a raw food diet, is the dietary practice of eating only or mostly food that is uncooked and unprocessed. Depending on the philosophy, or type of lifestyle and results desired, raw food diets may include ...

alternative medicine Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices are ...

, and anti-vaccine sentiment. He has been described as " e of

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

's most ubiquitous public figures" as well as an "internationally renowned conspiracy theorist" and a "

huckster A huckster is anyone who sells something or serves biased interests, using pushy or showy tactics. Historically, it meant any type of peddler or vendor, but over time it has assumed pejorative connotations. Etymology The original meaning of h ...

Early life

Wolfe grew up in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, and graduated from the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

, where he studied mechanical and environmental engineering and political science. Afterwards, he earned a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree at the

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in San Diego, California, United States. Chartered in 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University ...

. According to Wolfe, he became intolerant of dairy when he was 18 and stopped consuming it, which led him to explore various diets and by the time he was 24 he was on an organic,

raw food Raw foodism, also known as rawism or a raw food diet, is the diet (nutrition), dietary practice of eating only or mostly food that is cooking, uncooked and processed food, unprocessed. Depending on the philosophy, or type of lifestyle and resu ...

diet. He introduced the diet to Thor Bazler (then known as Stephen Arlin), who had attended the same high school as Wolfe, and this led to the founding of their company Nature's First Law.

Career

Thor Bazler and Wolfe co-founded the company Nature's First Law in 1995. The company sold organic food and products related to

. Wolfe and Bazler started the company selling products out of their car trunks; by 2005 the company had 23 employees and around $6 million in revenue, and had profits of $1.2 million in 2004. The company grew in part by endorsements from celebrities. By 2005 Wolfe had become an evangelist for raw foods, travelling and speaking, while Bazler stayed in San Diego and tended to the Nature's First Law business. In 2007 Nature's First Law changed its name to Sunfood Nutrition. The relationship between Wolfe and Sunfood ended at least by 2011, and there was litigation involving

personality rights Personality rights, sometimes referred to as the right of publicity, are rights for an individual to control the commercial use of their identity, such as name, image, likeness, or other unequivocal identifiers. They are generally considered as p ...

. In 2012 Sunfood claimed Wolfe was defaming it. While affiliated with Sunfood Nutrition, Wolfe also co-founded the company Sacred Chocolate in 2006 with Steve Adler, which sells specialized raw chocolate products. New Horizon Health, Inc. was founded in 2009 and runs websites and businesses for which Wolfe is the "celebrity spokesperson": the

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile co ...

site Longevity Warehouse, and the subscription-based

longevity Longevity may refer to especially long-lived members of a population, whereas ''life expectancy'' is defined Statistics, statistically as the average number of years remaining at a given age. For example, a population's life expectancy at birth ...

web magazine ''The Best Day Ever'', which Wolfe says he co-founded. New Horizon Health had $7.6M in revenue in 2013. Wolfe has been the spokesman for

Magic Bullet Magic bullet may refer to: * Enchanted bullet obtained through a contract with the devil in the German folk legend Freischütz ** ''Der Freischütz'', an opera by Carl Maria von Weber based on the legend * Magic bullet (medicine), the pharmacologi ...

since its inception in 2012, and has appeared in several

infomercials An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of di ...

promoting the product. Wolfe has authored and co-authored several books promoting foods and offering diet advice.

Other activities

Wolfe is president of the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation, which received its IRS nonprofit certification in 2002. In 2004, Wolfe starred on the reality TV show '' Mad Mad House'' regularly as the

naturist Naturism is a lifestyle of practicing non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms a ...

"alt",

alternative lifestyle An alternative lifestyle or unconventional lifestyle is a lifestyle (sociology), lifestyle perceived to be outside the social norm, norm for a given culture. The term ''alternative lifestyle'' is often used pejoratively. Description of a related ...

practitioners who served as hosts and judges for the contestant "guests". In 2004 Wolfe was part of a rock band called The Healing Waters that travelled the country in a vegetable-oil-powered bus and performed songs including "Raw Food Girl" and "Bye Bye Burger World".

Conspiracy theories and pseudoscientific claims

Wolfe has been criticized for promoting

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...

and "harmful scientific flimflam". He has been accused of convincing people they can prevent or cure real ailments with ineffective supplements and demonizing life-saving vaccines and cancer treatments. In addition, he has made numerous statements about medical treatments that are not in keeping with the scientific and medical literature.

Anti-vaccine advocacy

Wolfe is a prominent supporter of the

anti-vaccine Anti-vaccine activism, which collectively constitutes the "anti-vax" movement, is a set of organized activities expressing opposition to vaccination, and these Social networking, collaborating networks have often sought to increase vaccine h ...

or "anti-vax" movement. He has baselessly claimed that vaccines cause autism or otherwise harm or kill people and may not work. This claim has been discredited. Wolfe's anti-vaccination stance led to protests during a speaking tour of Australia in 2017, which had been funded in part by anti-vaccination groups. This led to the cancellation of a scheduled event after the withdrawal of a sponsor, and at least one more after a venue cancelled the booking.

Cancer

Wolfe supports the unfounded claims that cancer research and modern

cancer treatments Cancer treatments are a wide range of treatments available for the many different types of cancer, with each cancer type needing its own specific treatment. Treatments can include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, targe ...

are " largely a fraud". Wolfe's various websites and online stores sell alternative products he claims treat or prevents cancer. Wolfe advocates that people with cancer treat it with

dietary supplement A dietary supplement is a manufactured product intended to supplement a person's diet by taking a pill (pharmacy), pill, capsule (pharmacy), capsule, tablet (pharmacy), tablet, powder, or liquid. A supplement can provide nutrients eithe ...

s and according to science writer Kavin Senapathy, he "demonizes life-saving vaccines and cancer treatments".

Raw foodism and detoxification

Wolfe promotes a diet based on unprocessed foods, stating that this has a "

detoxification Detoxification or detoxication (detox for short) is the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including the human body, which is mainly carried out by the liver. Additionally, it can refer to the period o ...

" effect. Detoxification has been found to be unscientific and lacking in evidence. The

British Dietetic Association The British Dietetic Association (BDA) is a trade union for dietitians in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1936 and became a certified union in 1982. It is affiliated to the Trades Union Congress and the Scottish Trades Union Congress. H ...

has described raw foodism as a

fad diet A fad diet is a diet that is popular, generally only for a short time, similar to fads in fashion, without being a standard scientific dietary recommendation, and often making unreasonable claims for fast weight loss or health improvements; ...

. Claims held by raw food proponents are pseudoscientific.

COVID-19

Wolfe is a frequent COVID-19 conspiracy theorist and anti-mask activist. He has spoken at anti-mask rallies and has repeatedly claimed without evidence that COVID-19 was artificially created. Wolfe advertises on Facebook his colloidal silver products, despite the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

's warning that they are "not safe or effective for treating any disease or condition". He called his brand his "#1 recommendation under the current crisis." Medical professionals describe these sorts of treatments as a potentially harmful false cure.

Other pseudoscientific claims

Wolfe believes that gravity is a toxin and that "water would levitate right off the Earth" if the oceans were not salty. He claims that

chemtrails The chemtrail conspiracy theory is the erroneous belief that long-lasting Contrail, condensation trails left in the sky by high-flying aircraft are actually "chemtrails" consisting of chemical weapon, chemical or biological agents, sprayed f ...

exist, that the Earth is flat, and that

solar panel A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...

s drain the Sun's power.Kasprack, Alex. (December 19, 2018).
Did David ‘Avocado' Wolfe Post a Meme About Solar Panels Draining Light from the Sun?
, ''Snopes.com''. Retrieved December 22, 2018. Furthermore, he has advertised deer antler spray as being "levitational" and an "

androgen An androgen (from Greek ''andr-'', the stem of the word meaning ) is any natural or synthetic steroid hormone that regulates the development and maintenance of male characteristics in vertebrates by binding to androgen receptors. This includes ...

ic force."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfe, David 1970 births Alternative detoxification promoters Alternative medicine activists American conservationists American food writers American homeopaths American anti-vaccination activists Pseudoscientific diet advocates Flat Earth proponents Living people People from San Diego Raw foodists American sustainability advocates American conspiracy theorists COVID-19 conspiracy theorists