One Meal a Day
The value of providing a healthy, plant-based lunch offers potential short- and long-term health benefits, such as a reduction in childhood obesity and the development of healthier lifelong eating habits. By eating one plant-based meal a day we also reduce our carbon footprint and impact on the environment. We reduce water and land use, lower pollution, slow deforestation, and reduce destruction of topsoil. Solid Rock Community School is committed to making a positive impact on human health and environmental health.
Solid Rock cares about the health of our students and the sustainability of our planet. In 2018 in cooperation with the Coalition of Healthy School Food (with special thanks to Advisory Board Member Christine Wallace), Healing America, and Dr. T. Colin Campbell, Solid Rock Community School began its journey and commitment to offer plant-based meals to our students “One Meal a Day.”
Hard Facts:
- A plant-based diet is the most efficient way to reduce our impact on the environment and protect our planet from pollution and CO2.
- Factory farming is a leading cause in the destruction of our environment. By eating more plants we can have a positive effect on our world.
- A plant-based diet is medically proven to offer the greatest health benefits by preventing and treating disease. Having a plant-based menu at school will ensure that every child receives healthy, fresh, great tasting foods during the school day.
- 50% of children between the ages of 2 – 15 have fatty streaks in their arteries, literally the beginning stages of heart disease.~ Bogalusa Heart Study
- 33% of children born in 2000 will develop type 2 diabetes at some point in their lives. For African Americans and Latinos, the numbers rise to a frightening 40 – 53%. This means more blindness, amputations, kidney dialysis, heart disease, poor quality of life, and early death. ~ Center for Disease Control
- 35% of all cancer deaths are caused by diet (and 33% are caused by tobacco). We already have the solution to 68% of cancer deaths – and it is called prevention. ~ Doll and Peto, Journal of the National Cancer Institute ~ American Cancer Society
- 1 hot dog or 2 slices of bologna a week are enough to increase colorectal cancer risk by 30 – 50% in adult women, and children are more susceptible to carcinogens than adults. ~ American Cancer Society, News Center: Eating Lots of Red Meat Linked to Colon Cancer
- The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization 2006 report “Livestock’s Long Shadow” states that raising animals for food causes more global warming than all transportation combined, causing 18% of all global warming. The newest report on global warming and animal product consumption by the World Bank, Livestock and Climate Change: What if the Key Actors in Climate Change Are… Cows, Pigs, and Chickens? released in November 2009, states that previous figures were severely underestimated and that the production of animals and their products for food contributes to a whooping 51% of global warming. A plant-based diet has the smallest environmental footprint.
This data, and much more, is why SRCS and other schools, businesses, and people throughout the country are making the change to include plant-based foods in their diet. We realize that many students will not have the opportunity to eat fresh, healthy foods at home, and even if only consumed at school “One Meal a Day,” we want all students to have that opportunity.
The daily menu items will include all of the student favorites, like tacos, burgers, pasta, soups, salads, and more. Each day features a soup, side salad, entree, fruit, and infused water. By offering a healthy and tasty menu at school, SRCS is increasing awareness of health, and reducing the carbon footprint our school and families leave on our planet.
We also have an à la carte menu available for breakfast, snacks, and optional lunch items, and a healthy vending machine on-site.
Solid Rock Community School is Green School Certified and Ocean Friendly Certified. We take being good stewards of our planet (and our bodies) seriously.