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.
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, we want students to have that opportunity.
The daily menu items will include a variety of student familiar and favorite foods, like tacos, burgers, pasta, soups, salads, and more. 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 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.
“I am quite pleased that Solid Rock Community School is educating their students and families about healthier food options as the school moves towards implementing a whole-food plant-based menu for its students. Nothing can better protect and heal our children than teaching them healthy ways to eat. As parents and children become familiar with whole-food plant-based eating they will begin to experience all of the positive benefits, which include control of obesity and the development of various diseases which normally appear among adults, but which are increasing among younger and younger individuals. I sincerely encourage and support Mrs. Michele Fasnacht in her efforts to bring awareness and education to her families about the whole-food plant-based diet….It is great to see her using her platform to help people change the cycle of old, unhealthy habits to create new healthy ones. It is especially gratifying when offered to young people.”Colin Campbell, PhDJacob Gould Schulman ProfessorEmeritus of Nutritional BiochemistryCornell UniversityChairman, T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies
PlantPure, Inc. launched its national Healing America campaign to communicate a holistic perspective on diet and lifestyle centered on the message of plant-based nutrition. It is wonderful to see leaders like Michele Fasnacht, Director of Solid Rock Community School, embrace these ideas to educate school families and students.We fully support the Solid Rock Community School initiative, “Eat More Plants and Save the Planet,” to raise awareness about the environment, animal agriculture, and a whole-food, plant-based diet and how they are all connected. We are happy and encouraged to have SRCS as part of the Healing America movement.Nelson CampbellPresident, PlantPure, Inc.Founder, PlantPure Communities, Inc
“Many people assume the diseases that kill us are preprogrammed into our genes. High blood pressure by 55, heart attacks at 60, maybe cancer at 70, and so on… But for most of the leading causes of death, our genes usually account for only 10-20% of risk.The typical Western diet is the number one cause of premature death and the number one cause of disability. In other words, a long and healthy life is largely a matter of choice. A plant-based diet is like a one-stop shop against chronic diseases.”Michael Greger, M.D.Physician, author, and internationally recognized speaker on nutrition, food safety, and public health issuesNutritionFacts.org
“The plant-based lunch menu is something that more and more schools are exploring as research shows that most Americans are eating way too much meat, dairy, and processed foods. As a result, 50% of children between the ages of 2 – 15 already have fatty streaks in their arteries. This is literally early stage heart disease. Children as young as eight years old are being prescribed cholesterol and blood-pressure-lowering medications. These drugs have very serious side effects, and the need for them is completely preventable. In relation to type 2 diabetes, 33% of all children in the US, and 40 – 53% of Latino and African American children, will get type 2 diabetes at some point in their lives, with the possibility of all that can come with it: blindness, kidney dialysis, amputations, and higher risk for heart disease. Regarding cancer, at least 35% of cancers are caused by diet, and we know that red meat causes cancer, the most carcinogenic type being processed meats: hot dogs, bacon, sausage, pepperoni, salami, ham and deli meats. Just one hot dog per week dramatically increases cancer risk.Eating more whole, plant foods is no longer “extreme” or something “hippies” do. It is mainstream, and more and more doctors, dietitians, and health insurance companies are recommending it. For example, the former president of the American College of Cardiology, Kim Williams, MD, said that all cardiologists should be recommending a plant-based diet to help their patients reverse their disease. And one of the largest health insurance companies in the country, Kaiser Permanente, with more than 9 million members, is suggesting this to their physicians: “Physicians looking for cost-effective interventions to improve health outcomes are becoming more involved in helping their patients adopt healthier lifestyles. Healthy eating may be best achieved with a plant-based diet, which we define as a regimen that encourages whole, plant-based foods and discourages meats, dairy products, and eggs, as well as all refined and processed foods.” The food industry has purposely made their foods addictive, with just the right amount of sugar, salt, and fat that makes their foods irresistible, considered “the bliss point.” While some of us may struggle to eat more in line with what we know is healthy, we all want the best for our children – and getting more exposure to plant-based foods at school and expanding children’s culinary palates is a great way to start. ”Amie HamlinExecutive Director, Coalition for Healthy School Food www.healthyschoolfood.org
