While Pepperoni’s Italian restaurant may not sound vegan friendly, it provided the Students for Environmental Awareness and Animal’s Rights club a plant-based meal for their annual Earth Day party.

Over 30 students like junior Isabella Gee enjoyed SEAARK’s array of food, which included vegan pasta, garlic bread, banana bread and fresh oranges.
“The food was delicious, every single SEAARK meeting always has amazing snacks that are either vegan, vegetarian or gluten free,” Gee said. “I think that really ties into the meaning and the values of the club.”

Some of these values include educating students about how easy it can be to practice sustainability through food choices.

“I think it’s nice to have a simple meeting where people can see the simplicity of being sustainable,” senior SEAARK officer Caroline Vestal said. “I love the fact that we always had really good plant-based foods to show people that you don’t need a bunch of packaged goods and meat in order to enjoy a good meal.”

The club also taught how minimally sacrificial vegan eating is, and that there are replacement options.
“So many people, even me sometimes, are daunted by things being labeled as gluten free or vegan or because they think that would make the food taste worse,” Gee said. “In reality, there’s amazing gluten free and vegan options out there, and SEAARK does a great job of showing that.”

Alongside the celebrations, SEAARK officers like Vestal created QR codes with information to educate attendees about their carbon impact.

“I don’t like shoving information at people, but I love being able to show and teach people about eco-consciousness,” Vestal said. “It’s fun to sit in an environment where you can talk about sustainability and there’s easy resources for you to look at, with simple tips and tricks to make your life more eco-conscious.”

Attendees like junior Allyson Nguyen made seed pots to take home and grow to further celebrate Earth Day.

“Planting these seeds allowed me to appreciate the Earth and to take a part of the Earth home with me,” Nguyen said.

To look for upcoming events, join the SEAARK remind @bhsseark or follow its Instagram @bhs.seaark.