Peter Singer, the grandfather of both the modern animal rights and effective altruism movements, has dedicated his life to answering what it means to live an ethical life with actionable, sustainable solutions. He is the world’s most influential living philosopher.

Peter is a Professor of Bioethics at Princeton and a Laureate Professor at the University of Melbourne who has published several books on our moral responsibility to alleviate suffering. Since its original publication in 1975, his groundbreaking work “Animal Liberation” has awakened millions of people to the existence of speciesism—our systematic disregard of nonhuman animals—inspiring a worldwide movement to transform our attitudes to animals and eliminate the cruelty we inflict on them.

A graduate of Stanford University and Cornell Law School, Rich is an accomplished vegan ultra-endurance athlete and former entertainment attorney turned full-time wellness & plant-based nutrition advocate, popular public speaker, husband, father of 4 and inspiration to people worldwide as a transformative example of courageous and healthy living.

In 2012, Rich became a #1 bestselling author with the publication of his inspirational memoir Finding Ultra: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World’s Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself.

In 2013 Rich launched the wildly popular Rich Roll Podcast, which persistently sits atop the iTunes top-10 lists. Rich & his wife Julie Piatt also published the bestselling cookbook and lifestyle primer, The Plantpower Way: Whole Food Plant-Based Recipes And Guidance For The Whole Family.

Dr. Dean Sherzai is co-director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Program at Loma Linda University. Dean trained in Neurology at Georgetown University School of Medicine, and completed fellowships in neurodegenerative diseases and dementia at the National Institutes of Health and UC San Diego. He also holds a PhD in Healthcare Leadership with a focus on community health from Andrews University.

He, along with his partner Dr. Ayesha Sherzai, is a practicing neurologist, scientist, author, parent, and one half of a husband and wife duo also known as The Braindocs, who knows the value of healthy lifestyle choices.

With their NEURO Plan framework, they have seen the impact on making the sick healthy and in taking healthy to the next level.

Dr. Ayesha Sherzai is a neurologist and co-director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Program at Loma Linda University, where she leads the Lifestyle Program for the Prevention of Neurological Diseases. She completed a dual training in Preventative Medicine and Neurology at Loma Linda University, and a fellowship in Vascular Neurology and Epidemiology at Columbia University. She is also a trained plant-based culinary artist.

She, along with her partner Dr. Dean Sherzai, is a practicing neurologist, scientist, author, parent, and one half of a husband and wife duo also known as The Braindocs, who knows the value of healthy lifestyle choices.

With their NEURO Plan framework, they have seen the impact on making the sick healthy and in taking healthy to the next level.

Columbus Batiste, MD FACC FSCAI is Chief of Cardiology for Kaiser Permanente Riverside and Moreno Valley Medical Centers, and was co-founder in 2011 and continues as Director of the Integrative Cardiovascular Disease Program at Kaiser Permanente Riverside. He earned his Doctorate in Medicine at Loma Linda University Medical School, and is a board-certified Internist, Cardiologist and Interventional Cardiologist. He received the Kaiser Permanente Physician Exceptional Contribution Award in 2017 and the NAACP Community Health Service Award in 2016.

Dr. Batiste is convinced that cardiovascular disease as well as stroke, hypertension and diabetes are preventable conditions which are major causes of death in the United States, disproportionately affecting African Americans. He is co-founder of the "Slave Food" project, documenting the racial dimensions of health care disparities in the U.S., and he was featured in the celebrated documentary The Game Changers.

Dr. Meagan Grega is the Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Kellyn Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to making the Healthy Choice the Easy Choice. Kellyn provides school-based healthy lifestyle education and “Garden as a Classroom” programs; supports access to nutrient-dense produce via the Eat Real Food Mobile Market; engages participants in hands-on, plant-based cooking classes in community settings and offers intensive therapeutic lifestyle change interventions for individuals and families.

Dr. Grega earned her MD degree from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and spent several years as a medical officer in the United States Navy. She is honored to serve as faculty for the St. Luke’s University Health Network Anderson Campus Family Medicine and Internal Medicine Residency programs, Clinical Assistant Professor for the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University and as the faculty advisor for the LKSOM/SLUHN medical student Lifestyle Medicine Interest Group. She serves as a member of several national task force groups dedicated to the expansion of evidence-based lifestyle medicine services and is the current conference chair for the American College of Lifestyle Medicine Annual Meeting. She is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, a Fellow of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, serves as a Director of the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine and the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, and is board certified in both Family Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine.

Sara leads the global portfolio for The Rockefeller Foundation’s food team, leading such signature initiatives as the Food Systems Vision Prize. In this capacity she is driving the Foundation’s inaugural regenerative food systems strategy and leading the articulation of a “Big Bet” for Food + Climate for the foundation. Sara also directs the diet quality portfolio and is expanding the good food purchasing portfolio and true cost accounting work globally with the aim of shifting the diet quality of 500 million underserved people by 2030. Previously, Sara co-founded the Global Knowledge Initiative, which she led for a decade, nurturing it from a concept to an organization designated as one of the "Top 100 Social Innovations for the next century.” During her time at GKI, Sara cultivated a dynamic team that she led in the design and execution of GKI’s programs in systems research and evaluation, network optimization, and collaborative innovation strategy setting, work that included serving as The Rockefeller Foundation’s Social Innovation Lab on Waste and Spoilage. Prior to founding GKI, Sara spent a decade as an innovation strategist for the World Bank. She has been commissioned by national governments, and international development organizations (AFDB, UNIDO, etc.) to lead thinking, develop and facilitate networks, and devise policies to strengthen developing countries' science and innovation capacity. Equal parts facilitator, systems thinker, collaboration-maker, and strategist, Sara graduated with honors in Science, Technology, and Society from Stanford University’s School of Engineering where she also earned a Masters degree in International Policy Studies. Following her time at Stanford, Sara did post-graduate study in Technology Policy and Management at the Universidad de Buenos Aires on a Rotary International Ambassadorial Fellowship. Sara’s list of publications includes more than 70 monographs, studies, and papers

Brittany Jaroudi runs a plant-based cooking YouTube channel named The Jaroudi Family. She has developed hundreds of delicious, easy, and family-friendly recipes focused on a whole food plant-based lifestyle.

She has an M.Ed. in education and a certificate in plant-based nutrition from T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies. Currently, she is the co-leader of the Pittsburgh Plant-Based Support Group and is on the National Health Association board of directors.

She will share her story with us on Farm Days and will present riveting cooking and nice cream making demos!

Bob Quinn is a leading green businessman, with successful ventures in both organic agriculture and renewable energy. Raised on a 2,400 acre wheat and cattle ranch in Montana, Quinn earned a Ph.D. in plant biochemistry at UC Davis before coming home to farm in 1978. In 1986, he planted his first organic crop, and by 1989, he had converted his entire farm. He served on the first National Organic Standards Board, which spurred the creation of the USDA’s National Organic Program, and has been recognized with the Montana Organic Association Lifetime of Service Award, The Organic Trade Association Organic Leadership Award, and Rodale Institute’s Organic Pioneer Award. As an entrepreneur, Quinn has founded five significant enterprises: a regional mill for organic and heritage grains, an organic snack company, a business that sells culinary oil and recycles it as biofuel, Montana’s first wind farm, and Kamut International. Kamut, the ancient grain Quinn revived from a pint jar of seed found in a neighbor’s basement, is now grown on 100,000 acres of certified organic cropland and manufactured into over 3500 products worldwide.

Lianna Levine Reisner, MSOD, is building a multicultural movement for health as President and Network Director of Plant Powered Metro New York, an organization she co-founded in 2019 to empower local communities to address their health concerns through evidence-based, plant-based nutrition. Lianna has served in management, fundraising, and grantmaking roles in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. Previously, she worked as an independent coach and consultant serving UJA-Federation of New York, providing organizational change support to Jewish nonprofit organizations in the New York metropolitan area. Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center honored Lianna as a 40 Under 40 Rising Star in Food Policy in 2022. Lianna has a Master's degree from Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management in Positive Organization Development and Change. She holds a certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies and is a certified Vegan Lifestyle Coach and Educator through Main Street Vegan Academy. She lives with her husband and three children in the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Janette Filbert Spiezio is an entrepreneur, owner, maker and designer of Sustainable Haus Mercantile, a zero waste, refill and home goods shop in Summit, NJ. Janette is the designer and maker of many of the products they sell, specializing in using upcycled cotton textiles to make useful zero waste swaps like her signature everyday napkins and a variety of reusable wipes that are all fully and easily compostable at end of life. They sell over 700 zero waste solutions including over 50 refillable products. You can BYO container or buy one. Janette speaks publicly on the dangers of plastics and everyday toxins, the importance of sustainability and zero waste, and offers practical solutions. She is member of the Westfield, NJ Green Team and is a Climate Reality Leader. Janette is a first generation American, has two daughters and is passionate about educating to create healthier homes, healthier families and a healthier planet. Janette is mission driven and aspires to reduce her carbon footprint with a focus on zero waste, toxic free, plastic free, and package free living. She is an avid camper, organic gardener, a creative cook and master seamstress.

Andrew Chignell is Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor in the University Center for Human Values at Princeton. He is a member of the Ethos Farm Project Board and will be moderating our Ethics of Eating panel discussion on September 9th. Born in Scotland, Andrew was (sadly) raised on the Standard American Diet (SAD) in the Chicago area, and taught philosophy at Cornell and Penn before coming to Princeton.

Andrew’s work to date focuses on Immanuel Kant and other modern European philosophers, philosophy of religion, the moral psychology of hope and despair, aesthetics, and the ethics of belief. He recently co-directed a four-year, $5M grant called “Hope and Optimism: Conceptual and Empirical Issues” and serves as the President of the North American Kant Society.

Andrew also has an interest in food and animal ethics. He regularly teaches courses in the area, and co-produced (with Prof. W. Starr at Cornell) a Massive Open Online Course on “Food Ethics.” The course is currently be refreshed for release on Coursera in September 2023. With Matthew Halteman and Terence Cuneo, he is the co-editor of Philosophy Comes to Dinner (Routledge, 2016).