Planet Friendly Eating
Our History
In late 2019, the “Upping Our Game” (UOG) committee of Sustainable Rossmoor recognized the need for additional strategies for greater local, national and international response to the climate crisis. The UOG generated 10 possible strategies, surveyed their membership, and the PFE team was formed in February 2020.
PFE originally planned an April 2020 Earth Month Food Fest and short video to launch our team’s activities. Due to the Covid 19-Shelter-in-Place order issued in early March 2020, PFE moved quickly to develop this webpage with action steps for Rossmoor residents to take at home. These actions steps include a review of the underlying science as well as simple how-to’s, including links to websites, reading materials and short videos.
SOME OF OUR MEMBERS:
Dave Casey is the chair of the Planet Friendly Eating team, Secretary of Sustainable Rossmoor, and lives in Walnut Creek, CA. Dave worked for 27 years with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) in project management, environmental impact reporting, and right of way (land use). He previously installed residential and commercial solar systems. Dave was a team lead on a statewide software roll-out to 12,000 Caltrans employees. He worked in Ghana with the Peace Corps for two years. He graduated from University of California, Davis in Botany and did graduate work in Molecular Biology at SF State University. He is a Global Meatless Monday Team member.
Amanda Casey is a financial executive living in Walnut Creek CA. She has 25 years of experience working in high growth non-profits and publicly traded companies headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. She enjoys working with teams to implement mission-critical software solutions, and analyzing financial data and operating drivers. Her passion is climate activism focused on behavioral actions by individuals, businesses, and organizations to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030. She is a Meatless Monday Ambassador. In 1981, she delivered a speech in French at the European Commission on the effects of government subsidies on the market penetration of residential energy conservation equipment. She received her B.S. in Economics and French from the University of California, Berkeley, and was awarded a CPA license from the State of California.
Dr. Laurel Standley is an environmental chemist and author living in Walnut Creek, CA. Her research and activism focus on protecting water resources and reducing public exposure to toxic chemicals. Laurel is the author of a blog and self-help book on reducing personal exposure to toxic chemicals. She also writes fiction and is currently working on a dystopian, climate fiction trilogy, as well as a cozy mystery series under the pen name June Lucas. As a member of the National Academy of Science’s Science and Entertainment Exchange, Laurel advises authors and filmmakers on incorporating science into their work. Dr. Standley received her B.S. in Chemistry from California Polytechnic State University, a Ph.D. in Chemical Oceanography from Oregon State University, and an M.A. in Urban Affairs and Public Policy from the University of Delaware
Marilyn Wilson is the dietitian on the PFE team. Marilyn worked for Kaiser Permanente in the Psychology Ward with people that did not want to eat. When the Psychology ward closed, Kaiser doctors continued to refer people to Marilyn. Two pediatricians loved Marilyn as she worked well with young children and teenagers. Marilyn likes people and found each person very interesting, so she greatly enjoyed her work. At school, Marilyn had been taught that you cannot get sufficient protein from plants, vegetables and fruit. She is very excited with all the new information about plant-based diets for health and environmental reasons.
Lena Birch grew up in Sweden and graduated from a Swedish nursing school. She moved to San Francisco in 1967 and, after her first baby was born, became interested in childbirth education and taught classes through adult education and at Kaiser. In 1982 Lena returned to Sweden to get a midwifery/BS Chemistry degree and then worked as a midwife in San Francisco and along the coast. In 1990 Lena added a Nurse Practitioner Certificate to her portfolio, worked at Kaiser, and for many years worked at the City of Berkeley Public Health clinic.Lena learned about a whole food plant-based eating in 2008 and decided to test this diet as a way to control her high cholesterol. Her cholesterol level declined in just eight weeks! Lena continued eating plant-based whole food and learned about the impacts of a plant-based diet on the sustainability of the planet and on animal welfare. She has met and continues to meet interesting and fun people through potluck events and whole-food, plant-based eating groups.
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