The 200 fruitarians who find this country to be their Garden of Eden

fruitarian-laptop-dreads

Vegetarians criticise meat eaters for giving the world cow farts (greenhouse gases) and for making animals endure unspeakable suffering. Vegawarians criticize both for not seeing the middle ground. Vegans take on all three groups saying that no animal products should be consumed by us humans, but there is another level of food piety: fruitarian.

When you think “Middle East” grilled lamb kebabs might come to mind. Other strange delights dangle on the Middle Eastern menu including sheep testicles.

But in Israel, the land of milk and honey and meat, about 2.5 percent of the population are die-hard vegans, with many restaurants offering vegan options. Among Israelis a new movement is emerging: fruitarianism. These fruitarians are people who eat nothing but fruit, some veggies and maybe some nuts.

They believe that even the vegan processed food industry is harmful and polluting and they are swearing off most every kind of food.

Despite having to eat kilos of fruit a day to sustain oneself, there are upsides: “it’s definitely less expensive than eating animals and animal products,” fruitarian Aviv Bracha, a 34-year-old psychologist from Lod told Haaretz.

Fruitarians also in general believe it’s just a healthier way to eat – with some fruitarians claiming that the size of our human jaw and teeth have been adapted to eating a fruit-only diet.

According to this fruitarian, fruitarianism in Israel is paradise: “I remember of eating the best figs, pomegranates, etc. there, and I suppose I couldn’t eat anything else but fruit, lol. It’s really the Garden Of Eden.”

With dates, figs and so many fresh options every season Israel is definitely a fruitarian paradise, like Thailand.

If you want more on Israel, the Hebrew-speaking community has a website 30 Bananas a Day which you can use to help find fruitarian food ideas when in the Middle East. If you can’t read Hebrew send it through a Google translate. 

Famous fruitarians?

Ghandi
Ashton Kutcher, while rehearsing for his role as Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs
Idi Amin, Uganda’s military dictator while in exile in Saudi Arabia

Image of fruitarian catching some sun from Shutterstock

Karin Kloosterman
Karin Kloostermanhttp://www.greenprophet.com
Karin Kloosterman is an award-winning journalist, innovation strategist, and founder of Green Prophet, one of the Middle East’s pioneering sustainability platforms. She has ranked in the Top 10 of Verizon innovation competitions, participated in NASA-linked challenges, and spoken worldwide on climate, food security, and future resilience. With an IoT technology patent, features in Canada’s National Post, and leadership inside teams building next-generation agricultural and planetary systems — including Mars-farming concepts — Karin operates at the intersection of storytelling, science, and systems change. She doesn’t report on the future – she helps design it. Reach out directly to [email protected]
2 COMMENTS

Comments are closed.

TRENDING

Eco organization offices destroyed by Iran missile

Tel Aviv's eco organization, the Heschel Center, was impacted by an Iranian missile.

What are AWG air-water generators, and why they aren’t a golden-bullet solution (yet)

Atmospheric water generators (AWGs) sound like magic: machines that can pull drinking water out of air. The idea is mentioned in the Bible, where the elders would pray for water collected as dew on plants and the catch on turning this into a machine is in the physics. To turn invisible vapor into liquid, you must remove heat, especially the latent heat of condensation.

Jordan’s $6 Billion Aqaba–Amman Desalination Project from the Red Sea Moves Forward

In 2025, the Jordanian government signed agreements with a consortium led by Meridiam and SUEZ, alongside VINCI Construction and Orascom Construction. Under a 30-year concession agreement, the consortium will design, build, finance, operate, and maintain the system before transferring it back to the Jordanian government. The total investment is estimated at approximately $6 billion USD.

The Saudi Startup Turning Desalination’s Toxic Waste Into Its Own Disinfectant

For millennia, the Middle East's water crisis seemed an immutable fact of geography — a region defined as much by what it lacked as by what lay beneath its sands. Today, a convergence of plummeting solar costs, advancing membrane technology, and hard-won engineering expertise is rewriting that story.

Earth building with Dead Sea salt bricks

Researchers develop a brick made largely from recycled Dead Sea salt—offering a potential alternative to carbon-intensive cement.

Should You Invest in the Private Market?

startustartup Unlike public stock exchanges, which offer daily trading, strict...

How to build a 100-year-company

Kongō Gumi is a Japanese construction company, purportedly founded in 578 A.D., making it the world's oldest documented company. What can we learn about building sustainable businesses from them?

From Pilot Plant to Global Stage: How Aduro Clean Technologies’ 2026 Expansion Signals a Turning Point for Chemical Recycling Investors Like Yazan Al Homsi

The company's Next Generation Process (NGP) Pilot Plant in London, Ontario, has officially moved into initial operating campaigns, generating the kind of structured, repeatable data that separates laboratory promise from commercial viability.

How AI Helps SaaS Companies Reduce Repetitive Customer Support Work

SaaS products are designed for large numbers of users with different levels of experience, and also in renewable energy.

Pulling Water from the Air

Faced with water shortage in Amman, Laurie digs up...

Turning Your Energy Consultancy into an LLC: 4 Legal Steps for Founders in Texas

If you are starting a renewable energy business in Texas, learn how to start an LLC by the books.

Tracking the Impacts of a Hydroelectric Dam Along the Tigris River

For the next two months, I'll be taking a break from my usual Green Prophet posts to report on a transnational environmental issue: the Ilısu Dam currently under construction in Turkey, and the ways it will transform life along the Tigris River.

6 Payment Processors With the Fastest Onboarding for SMBs

Get your SMB up and running fast with these 6 payment processors. Compare the quickest onboarding options to start accepting customer payments without delay.

Related Articles

Popular Categories