Food for Life is one of the largest non-profit organizations in the world and is serving more than 2 million vegan meals daily. One of its founders, Paul Turner, started their mission with the aim to teach people that there is more to food, and more to this world, than what we perceive.

Young Monk

Other than Food for Life, Paul has also served as a senior consultant at the World Bank, an entrepreneur Holistic Life Coach, and a vegan chef. But before any of that, he was a child.

Born in one of the poorer areas of Sydney, Australia, Paul was introduced to the bitterness of life at an early age. It’s also at this young phase that he was fascinated with spirituality.

“My dad was a small-time criminal,” Paul shared, “the friends of the family were also criminals so we grew up in a pretty crazy situation. And at the age of 15, I became interested in astronomy. That sort of planted the seed in my heart that there must be more to life than this.”

In his teenage years, he joined a group of people that gathered near an abandoned hotel resort. There he stayed for six months. During this time, he realized his calling and began his journey to spiritual development. He joined an ashramat the age of 19 and dedicated 14 years of his life to being a celibate monk.

A vital part of his learning came to him after his head was shaved and he became a part of the monks. “I looked in the mirror and realized, that vanity,” Paul said, “that person that I thought I was now is on the floor. Now I’m a little different. Who am I really? I’m obviously not this body, this body is just a vehicle. It’s how I’m expressing my consciousness.”

Pure Food

Learning from a Bengali celibate monk named Swami Prabhupada, Paul discovered Bhakti—Yoga of Devotion. Building upon the concepts in this practice, he began teaching it to others and through the mission of Food for Life.

“Food, when paired with loving intention, has the ability to nourish mind, body and soul,” Paul said, “Food can shift consciousness.” He believes that the cause for world hunger isn’t the lack of food, but the lack of humanity.

“Our mission is to unite the world through the sharing of pure food,” Paul stresses, “If we saw ourselves as a united global family, things like hunger would disappear because you wouldn’t tolerate your brother or sister going hungry.”

Paul also notes that they’re the most cost-effective feeding program in the world, because of their vegan diet. Feeding up to 40 people from a donation of $10. On top of this, they are also educating people about the advantages of shifting to a vegan diet, as well as getting more members to help serve with loving intent.

Cultivating the Self

Paul shares that in his journeys, a lot of young people describe success as being an influencer or YouTuber. Concerned, he notes that there should be more to what we do. Part of balancing our lives should be taking care of our spirit.

“We have to be responsible citizens but at the same time, we have to also cultivate our real potential insider,” he shares. “Because eventually at some point in time, this body is gonna stop working, and we’re gonna have to move on.”

He shares that reincarnation is a fact that is happening now. People change every day. Once we were children and now, we’re adults. As the spiritual being we are, it’s the inner self we should work most to develop.

More from Paul:

• email: paul@ffl.org
• Food for Life: ffl.org
• Business owners can support through: omguarantee.com
• LinkedIn: Paul Rodney Turner