Michele Fasnacht (vegan) – Inspirational Leader of Education and Social Activism, Part 2 of 4

Today we begin our show with an exploration of the school’s incredible “One Meal a Day” plant-based program. “Well, our menu is actually designed with the students in mind. So, it's the food they like. We take traditional favorite foods, and we veganize them. So, instead of a hamburger, it's a veggie burger. Instead of a meat taco, it's a veggie and bean taco. Instead of pasta and meaty red sauce, it's pasta and lentil Bolognese sauce.”

“We tried it out for a month just to be more healthy, and we just never went back, back in 7th grade. And we like it, I like being vegan. It’s a good, healthy decision.” “Because of this food, it is actually the reason I turned vegan. Because after a while, I really started to see that animals were being affected, and all this other stuff is going on. The food is just really good, it’s all natural and tastes amazing. I told my mom, my mom at first was like, ‘You don’t have to make it a big deal. You can still eat vegan, but you can still eat stuff.’ But I was like, ‘No, I want to go full vegan.’ So then after that my mom went vegan, my dad went vegan, and my brother came back home and he went vegan.”

“I am teaching Environmental Science for elementary students. That’s not usually a subject for elementary. I am basically creating a program where children learn to appreciate animals and plants and nature, and helping them to understand that humans and animals and plants could live harmoniously together.”

“Solid Rock developed the ‘Seed-to-table’ program that's fully integrated into the school week, teaching hands-on gardening to support a culture of health and wellness throughout the school. They have an opportunity to engage in agricultural practices and learn about the responsibilities and impact of land cultivation. They explore the web of interactions among the living and the non-living players that sustain life. Students grow, sow, tend, and harvest produce for the school plant-based kitchen, and they eat it in the plant-based lunch program. The kids that are part of the seed-to-table garden, they literally love it.”