We here at Dalton Learning Center & Academy have always desired to create a health-based platform wherein this institution might become a resource of knowledge to the surrounding community. Last year, we launched what would be our first annual health fair. We showcased various organizations and local businesses that reflected our holistic ideas and values. We hope to expand the wealth of services provided in our future health endeavors and deepen the discernment of that which is healthful or harmful for the mind, body, and spirit

What We Feed Our Students

We strongly believe that the proper consumption of fruits, vegetables, and grains can rightly prepare a child’s mind for learning. Therefore, Dalton has been purposeful about cutting out sugary, processed foods, and providing nutritious energy boosting. We encourage our parents to avoid giving their children sugar-dense meals in the morning, and to get into the practice of preparing gourmet dishes. We have been witnesses to the transformative power that a whole-foods, plant-based diet on the growth and development of young children. There are stories (whose roots find themselves here at Dalton) of children who were once classified as battling with ADHD, attention-deficiency, autism, and so much more. Those stories have turned into testimonies of renewed minds and restored behavior simply by a reexamination of a dietary lifestyle.

Dalton wants to help foster success for each of our students, and that starts with providing well-balanced, nutritious meals daily.

Benefits of a Plant-Based Diet

Providing a pure, whole-foods, plant-based diet to children in an environment saturated with overly processed and inorganic meal options is important to us here at Dalton Learning Center & Academy because it offers numerous benefits. This dietary approach ensures that children consume nutrient-dense foods that are rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, promoting optimal growth and development. Whole foods, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and nuts, provide essential nutrients and fiber while being free from harmful additives, preservatives, and artificial ingredients commonly found in processed foods. A plant-based diet can reduce the risk of chronic diseases, including obesity, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes, while supporting a healthy weight and boosting the immune system. Furthermore, a whole-foods, plant-based diet can cultivate positive eating habits, improve cognitive function, enhance energy levels, and instill a lifelong appreciation for nutritious food, setting children on a path towards lifelong health and well-being.

So Eating Meat is Bad?!

Don’t mistake us! We are by no means saying that eating meat is a sin! Noooo! We are very aware that God instructed the remnant of humanity to eat meat after He cleansed the world with the great flood (Genesis 9:3). Afterall, there was no vegetation for people to consume for bodily sustenance – What was man supposed to eat? We also recognize that the priests were instructed by God to eat certain meats of the burnt offerings (Leviticus 6:26, 7:15-38). In the New Testament, Christ Himself ate fish when He walked among us (Luke 24:41-43) – He even fed it to thousands of people (Mark 6:35-44, 8:1-9)! For us to determine then that the consumption of meat is a sin would be for us to blasphemously determine that God is wrong and that (dare I say it…) we know better than the Creator! (GASP!)

God forbid!

Here’s what we are saying.
Our Heavenly Father outlined for us in careful detail the foods we ought to eat, and those we ought to refrain from. Everything that God made for us to consume, He made it good. However, because of man’s selfishness, greed, and discontentment, we have sullied the good things of God. The various meats that we often enjoy are usually corrupted through the concentrated animal feeding operations of industrial farming practices, the repetitive insertion of hormones and antibiotics in meat production, and the neglectful contamination of meat products with harmful bacteria (i.e.: Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, etc.). The lack of labeling-transparency further worsens the situation as we are left in the dark about the true safety of the foods being provided for us. With this in mind, we cannot in good conscience encourage the consumption of meats as it is no longer comes from the unadulterated animals that God so perfectly created in The Beginning.

Treat Your Body as the Temple It Is!

Recognizing that our bodies are not our own but have been ransomed, or purchased, of God to be a temple unto Him wherein He should dwell, it is important for us to care for the body. We ought to be mindful about the various things we take in. Will eating this food pose a threat to the temple of God that is my body? However insidious, will consuming the items in this meal disrupt the natural functionality of my body? If the honest answer is Yes, then it is our duty to keep away from such things – whatever they might be.

Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.
-1st Corinthians 10:31

Figuratively speaking, the Bible admonishes us to “…consider diligently what is before thee: And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.” Proverbs 23:1-2, emphasis added. The same God that advised us to be ready to enter the Kingdom of God maimed and eyeless in an effort of avoiding sin, is the same God instructing us here in this passage to put a knife to our throat if we are unable to resist the temptation of unwholesome foods. God is telling His children, that if we tend to yield ourselves to those foods that we know are harmful to the body, it would be better for us to do whatever it takes to avoid the temptation. With a sound list prepared, send someone else to do your grocery shopping. Avoid the donut-filled breakroom by having lunch in your car or in your office. Make your friends and family aware of your desire to eat healthy before attending dinner parties so that clean options can be made available for you.

The Bible describes enemies of the cross of Christ as having their god in their belly (Philippians 3:18-19). Whoosh! Have mercy, Lord! Does this sound like a God who is disinterested in how we care for our bodies? Not at all! When we choose to put certain things into our body that we know work against God’s natural and healthful design and functionality, we are demonstrating where our faith lies – in our own wisdom, rather than His as the Creator God. Furthermore, we announce that God is not Lord over all aspects of our life.