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(NaturalNews) The $50 billion Ponzi scheme operated by Wall Street criminal Bernie Madoff has reportedly struck a victim in the vegetarian foods community: John Robbins, author of Diet For A New America and other popular food culture books has been reportedly wiped out.

A letter on VegSource.com (http://www.vegsource.com/articles2/...) asks readers to send money to Robbins and help him and his wife pay their mortgage, saying "To economize, the family has rented out every extra room in their house and every spare space on their property. Still, it is not clear if they will be able to pay their mortgage or keep the property they share with their son, his wife and their two grandsons. Both Michelle and Deo have taken on part time jobs, and Deo has also taken over the formerly paid for day care for their special needs grandchildren."

I'm not sure what to make of all this, actually. Robbins is a legend in the health food movement, and I tremendously admire and respect his work. He's a hugely inspiring, uplifting individual who should probably be put in charge of the USDA in my opinion.

I'm not sure that his investment loss rises to the level of a grassroots call for action, however. What's essentially happening here, folks, is that the vegetarian community is being asked by VegSource.com to raise bailout money to reimburse Robbins for personal investment losses.

If Robbins were having his freedom or his health threatened, that would be different. I'd be the first to jump to his aid and ask for grassroots donations. I'd do the same for any number of other visionary leaders of the health revolution movement. But should the natural health community members really be asked to raise bailout money for one individual (even a visionary leader) that got taken by Wall Street?

You can voice your opinion below by posting in the comment section. If you wish to send a donation to support Robbins, you can send it to John Robbins, c/o Patti Breitman, 12 Rally Court, Fairfax, CA 94930. Make the check out to John Robbins.

If Robbins were in danger of having his freedom threatened (if he were arrested by the FTC, for example), or if his health were in jeopardy, I would be among the first to jump to his aid. But is it really appropriate to call for a grassroots fundraising campaign to reimburse a celebrity author for riches they lost due to a bad or unlucky investment decision?

Robbins is in no way starving, after all. And the money he lost is likely a sizable fortune that most health-conscious consumers could never hope to save in a lifetime. Robbins is simply experiencing the same financial disaster that has befallen countless other Americans with far poorer prospects for earning it back.

In fact, what Madoff did to Robbins, the Fed is doing to everybody!

None of us are going to escape this financial implosion unscathed. We would all do well to focus on what's important in life: Health, family, spirituality and purpose. And in that department, Robbins is steeped in great riches.

By the way, just so you know I'm not adhering to some sort of double standard here, I'm currently living on less than $1,000 a month in expenses. That's because I sold my house in 2006 (before the crash), and I recently moved to a small, simple house with a single-car garage, donating away entire truckloads of belongings I had been clinging to for years. It was a spiritually freeing experience, and I've found so much greater happiness living a simple, low-cost life than I ever experienced when I used to live in a large home filled with stuff. I've come to realize that the bigger your house, the poorer you really are because your stuff owns you!

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