About Naoko

Hello, my name is Naoko Oehme, cofounder of Green Harmony Living. I am originally from Japan where people live long and it is one of the healthiest countries in the world. I believe since I have followed a healthy Japanese lifestyle and diet, which I inherited from my Japanese ancestors’, I have never had any big problem with my body or mind.

In 2004, one of my dreams came true and I moved to the US to study English. I started to enjoy campus life at the University of Las Vegas. However, while living in the dormitory, I ate American processed fast foods everyday, so not surprisingly, I seriously gained weight in just three months and my health deteriorated. At that point, I weighed the most I have ever weighed in my life!!! I was shocked to learn how poor the diet was here in the US and how quickly it had a negative effect on my wellbeing.

At this time I became concerned about people’s health, so in 2005 I moved to Los Angeles to study to be a Registered Nurse. Since there were many Japanese supermarkets in Los Angeles, I started eating Japanese food again and my health improved.

I met Roland in the spring of 2006, and learned so much about truly healthy living from him. Since I had been eating anything all my life, including meat, it was really quite shocking since I had never thought about not eating meat, dairy, eggs, or eating raw vegetables. However, it was fascinating for me to experience this new world of green living and healthy diet. I saw it as a great opportunity to learn about the vegan, rawfood lifestyle. He took me to vegan and rawfood restaurants, and healthy supermarkets, and he also taught me a lot of green concepts, such as sustainable living, biodegradable, eco friendly, animal rights, toxic free, fair trade, hemp, solar power, global warming, and so on. These concepts I had never heard about before.

Also, since Roland is a landscape architect, he taught me about herbaceous plants, edible plants, nature, wildlife, and ecosystems. I was so inspired because he not only thinks about being physically healthy, but he also sees himself as a part of nature. He is a peaceful human who shares and protects our planet earth.

In the fall of 2006 Roland and I drove across the US from California to Maryland where Roland grew up. Soon thereafter, we got married. I was so inspired by him that I became vegan and I started to learn about rawfood. I started thinking about the whole universe that I live in and I felt healthy and peaceful. Then I decided not to be a nurse since I realized that I didn’t want to treat the outcomes of unhealthy lifestyles, but rather I could better help people to live healthier by teaching healthy living as Roland had taught me.

In 2007 we established our company called Green Harmony Living to sell green products and also to share green and healthy living concepts with all of humanity.

I am from Japan. Roland has a German heritage. Germany is the one of the world leaders in developing a new green economy where many aspects of the society is eco friendly, including renewable energy, green buildings, pedestrian friendly towns and cities, many parks, and so on. Japan is too. Living here in the US we are like east meets west. We learn from each other and share what we learn through Green Harmony Living. I want to share with everyone my Japanese culture’s traditional diet which is similar to macrobiotic principles, including handmade natto, handmade tofu, handmade miso, handmade umeboshi, handmade dried persimmons, handmade tempeh, and so on. These are nutritious foods, some with beneficial bacteria, and little processed. I am so excited to meet people who are interested in green lifestyle here in the US and abroad!