Simon G. Brown has been practicing a macrobiotic lifestyle for nearly 25 years. In the mid-1980s, Brown studied under Mishio Kushi in Philadelphia and assisted him with consultations. He also regularly helped cook macrobiotic meals for the 90 or so people who would go to the center to eat. In 1986, Brown returned to London to run the Community Health Foundation-Europe's largest natural health center at the time. Brown later started his own counseling practice and began teaching macrobiotic courses. Brown is also a highly regarded practitioner of feng shui and shiatsu, and a best-selling author on these subjects. Michio Kushi is recognized as the world authority on macrobiotics. He became a proponent of macrobiotics after meeting its founder, George Ohsawa, in Japan in 1945. In the early 1960s Kushi and his wife Aveline founded Erewhon, the first natural food company in the US. In 1971 Kushi and his students founded the East West Journal and later the East West Foundation, for macrobiotic teaching and research. In 1978, Michio and Aveline founded the Kushi Institute, an educational organization with centers throughout America and Europe. Kushi's seminars and lectures have attracted thousands of health care professionals and other supporters. His life and teachings have been written about in Life, Paris-Match, Interview, and other publications. He has written several dozen books on the relationship of diet to health and well-being, including The Macrobiotic Way (Avery, 2004), The Macrobiotic Path to Total Health (Ballantine, 2003), and The Cancer Prevention Diet (St. Martin's Griffin, 2004).