Ecological Organization Advocating for Sustainability

About Dr. Oppenlander

Dr. Richard Oppenlander is the founder and president of Inspire Awareness Now. He is a sustainability consultant, researcher, and author whose award-winning book, Comfortably Unaware has been endorsed as a must-read by Ellen DeGeneres, Dr. Jane Goodall, and Dr. Neal Barnard, among others. Dr. Oppenlander’s most recent book titled, “Food Choice and Sustainability: Why Buying Local, Eating Less Meat, and Taking Baby Steps Won't Work”, has won numerous awards including the 2014 International Book Award for Social Change and the 2014 Green Book Festival Award and is being used by think tanks and strategists for developing initiatives to advance change. Dr. Oppenlander is a much sought after international lecturer on the topic of food choice and how it relates to sustainability, speaking most recently to European Parliament, and served as the lead consultant for two full-length environmental documentary films. He also serves as an advisor to world hunger projects in developing countries and with municipalities in the United States, receiving an honorary award from the Hawaii Senate for his pioneering work regarding their food choice-environment connection.

Since the early 1970’s, Dr. Oppenlander has extensively studied the effect our food choices have on our health and the immense impact those choices have on our planet. His research has taken him to nearly every area in the United States and to numerous other countries on nearly every continent. He is president and founder of an organic plant based food production company and education business, co-founder of an animal rescue and sanctuary (with his wife Jill), developer of the first environment-food choice academy course of study and subsequent ambassador program, and has given hundreds of lectures, presentations, interviews, and open discussions on the topic of food choice.

Dr. Oppenlander has been a keynote speaker within numerous festivals, conferences and events, while presenting lectures and workshops at numerous universities and colleges. He has been a featured guest on radio shows, and has contributed to numerous magazines and books. With his work, Dr. Oppenlander addresses the fact that our current choices of foods are causing Global Depletion – the loss of our land, water, food supply, biodiversity, energy resources, and our own health as well as negatively impacting climate change, and that various irreversible tipping points are being reached.

In compelling fashion, Dr. Oppenlander reveals serious inefficiencies and unsustainable practices in our current food production systems and explores unique solutions. Along the way, Dr. Oppenlander challenges audiences with new insights regarding how this has happened, exposing our cultural, social, educational, political, and even media influences.

Making progress in the health of our planet begins with unfiltered and comprehensive awareness. It begins with dissemination of truth and the uniting of those willing to make a difference in advancing peace and health. The furthering of any environmental movement will ultimately depend on our evolution as a society beyond the anthropocentric manner in which we currently view things. We can no longer afford to exclude what we decide to eat from social, economic, and environmental reform and true wellness. A paradigm shift is necessary by all those individuals and organizations seeking positive change as we move forward. And the very real time lines associated with global depletion demand a sense of urgency.

Dr. Oppenlander and Inspire Awareness Now realize that the health of our economy, environment, and society are inextricably connected. Connected within our own country as well as with other countries on a fully global basis. We cannot make progress in one of these areas or aspects while ignoring others.

Collectively, all of our sustainability efforts must include food choice, they must be organically grown, whole plant based foods, and the time is now. Future generations of all species, including humanity, are depending on us. Visit the Comfortably Unaware website for more.