From Woodstock to Wellness
– Join Us on Holistic Holiday at Sea

If Sandy Pukel looks familiar, it may be because he has appeared many times in south Florida newspapers, natural foods magazines, and even on national television.  However, if you are a member of the hip generation, you may recognize him as one of the flower children who was interviewed, naked, in the film classic Woodstock.  Sandy’s transformation from a junk food eating hippie to one of this country’s most influential advocates for healthy eating has been a spiritual quest of epic proportions.  
 
A law school dropout in the early 1970’s, Sandy shunned his middle class Jewish New York roots for a more unfettered lifestyle on the beaches of Jamaica. Returning to the US disillusioned with his nomadic existence, Sandy had a profound life altering experience. He happened to take a macrobiotic cooking class. The balancing principles of the macrobiotic way of life seemed to be a perfect antidote to Sandy’s lack of direction, and soon he was focused not only on changing his life, but changing our nation’s attitudes towards food and health.
 
With a $4000 loan from his father, Sandy opened a natural food store, called Oak Feed, in the law office of a friend in Coconut Grove, Florida. Before long he moved to a larger location, and by the 1990’s, Oak Feed was doing 2 million dollars in annual sales and occupied one of the swankiest addresses in South Florida. What’s more, as Coconut Grove grew and became a Mecca for everything chic, the Oak Feed store became the place to rub elbows with the elite of film and sport. However, Sandy’s good financial fortune and growing notoriety did not deter him from his bigger dream. With resources from his business Sandy helped to establish several macrobiotic foundations in Florida and began sponsoring conferences featuring macrobiotic world leaders such as Michio Kushi and Herman Aihara. As interest in macrobiotics, Oriental medicine, health and food grew, Sandy’s workshops and conferences expanded to include nationally known teachers and speakers who attracted thousands of attendees in Florida, California, and Colorado. Proceeds from many of these events were used to educate school children about the benefits of good nutrition. John Robbins, author of Diet for a New America (Stillpoint), is one celebrity who has attended several of Sandy’s conferences. “Sandy is one of the brightest minds in the natural healing movement,” says Robbins about his friend. In Sandy’s own words, “My life is an expression of what I think is important. ‘You are what you eat’ is really true. Food creates the body and has a great influence on our mind and spiritual life. My dream is a peaceful, ecologically sane world, which I feel must begin with balanced eating.”
 
Sandy's most recent venture is his one week Caribbean health cruise aboard Costa's fleet of Italian luxury cruise liners. Sailing February 26, 2006, the one week trip, called Holistic Holiday at Sea, features 20 alternative health and wellness teachers and 50 classes in natural foods cooking, yoga, holistic dental care, Pilates, macrobiotics, and various other related topics. Sandy even brings his own natural food chefs and natural foods. "It is truly a luxury vacation with a purpose," says Sandy.   
 
Although Sandy’s motto is “everything changes,” in many ways he is still the casual, friendly guy he was back in his hippie days. His approach to life is still very anti-establishment, and most days he can be seen riding around the Grove in his ’73 orange beetle convertible wearing Bermuda shorts, Birkenstock sandals, and a bright flowered shirt. Sandy is a Coconut Grove icon.