FROM OUR PRODUCER

On February 17, PlantPure Nation finally debuted on the popular video-on-demand service Netflix. It was a long time coming, and we owe a special thanks to our friends who have supported us along the way. Visit PlantPure Nation's Netflix page. 

As part of the film’s rollout strategy, we first took a “fine cut” on a 23-city U.S. tour from April to June last year in conjunction with a successful Kickstarter campaign to raise marketing funds. Thousands of people came out to meet Dr. T. Colin Campbell, his son, Nelson (the film’s director), and his daughter-in-law, Kim Campbell, during Q&A sessions after the movie.

Many viewers offered invaluable advice for the film’s production. Watching the film with audiences from Boston to Seattle helped us refine the narrative and craft a tighter presentation. Perhaps most importantly, we passed around clipboards at every showing and slowly began to build a database of those friends we met. That database formed the foundation of this newsletter group!

After our premiere in Los Angeles in late June, PlantPure Nation began booking in commercial theaters all over the country. Over 110 cities hosted the film through mid-November. With the invaluable help of volunteers, we were able to continue reaching out to new friends through these screenings. In many cities, the initial screening of the film became the first “meetup” of a PlantPure Pod in that town. Dozens of Pods were born out of that shared communal experience. 

Since Thanksgiving, the film has been available on DVD, iTunes, Amazon, and other streaming/rental sites, including PlantPureNation.com. We now offer public performance licenses for Pod members to show to groups, and the film continues to be a calling card to introduce people to the PlantPure message and to the Pods.

All this groundwork was intended to raise the profile of PlantPure Nation and to increase awareness so that by the time the film got to Netflix, there would a large audience looking forward to seeing it. The day it became available on Netflix, the number of Pod members spiked and the activity on PlantPureNation.com jumped as well! Since then, more and more people are seeing the film each day and they are coming to the website to get involved. It’s been wonderful to watch.

Netflix is currently showing the film in the U.S. and Canada, and together those two countries have over 50 million subscribers. Netflix does a nice job of identifying their subscribers’ viewing habits and recommending films they may like. We are grateful and humbled all at once to have PlantPure Nation take its place among the few influential documentaries about the plant-based diet. As Netflix analyzes the demographics of viewers watching, it will recommend the film to more and more subscribers who identify with the plant-based lifestyle from different perspectives. Supporters of animal welfare and our environment, as well as ethical and health conscious plant eaters who have not yet heard about PlantPure Nation, will be introduced to it. We look forward to helping people with these varied interests connect with one another, because after all, bringing people together through connection and community are primary objectives of PlantPure Nation. Thanks Netflix!

— John Corry

FROM OUR PLANTPURE JUMPSTART DIRECTOR

It has been an amazing month since the Jumpstarts officially launched. The support and enthusiasm we have received is really exciting. We have had multiple hospitals reaching out to PlantPure, interested in the concept of using the Jumpstart program as another tool to help people regain their health. Many of us have been waiting for that moment in time when the concept of “what we eat matters” is finally realized by the mainstream public. From what I have seen this month, I think this moment is happening now!

Lee Memorial Health System has completed its first Jumpstart trial for the system's senior leadership. We received wonderful feedback from them and have already made some adjustments based on that feedback. The system will begin its official launch of the Jumpstarts for employee groups and others in mid-April.

I am looking for testimonies of either your experience during the Jumpstart or how the program ultimately affected your health. Sharing these stories is crucial; they help motivate others to take the plunge and try a plant-based diet. If you have a story to tell about your Jumpstart, please contact me at ldietrich@plantpurenation.com.

— Laura Dietrich

FROM OUR EDITOR

I think I mention this in just about every issue of our newsletter, but it’s been a busy last few weeks. I wish we had a way to show each of you the insane number of details that go into producing any one of our products or services. Sometimes things go off without a hitch, and other times, despite our best efforts, our planning meetings, and our lengthy email chains with colleagues across the country, we encounter issues we couldn’t possibly have foreseen. It’s a little humbling and, at times, a lot frustrating.

But then we get stories from people who’ve gone through a Jumpstart—they feel better, they’ve lost weight, and they feel like they’ve done something good not just for themselves, but also, in a small way, for our planet and its animals. We read feedback on our social media channels from people who’ve tried a PlantPure recipe for the first time and loved it, and people who watched PlantPure Nation and were inspired to try this new way of eating. Moments like that make all of this—the meetings, the phone calls, the daily frustrations, the stupid mistakes—worth it.

It’s important to know that the work we do matters, and hearing about your successes, big or small, is so satisfying. So whether you’ve decided to go completely whole-food, plant-based, or you’ve just tried your first piece of tofu—let us know. We’re encouraged by these stories, and we love sharing them so that others can be spurred on to try new things too.

Keep it up!

— Amy Bissinger

WORDS FOR LIVING WELL

CHECK US OUT

We would love everyone to follow all of our social media channels, and tag us/use the hashtag #plantpure as much as possible. Share our social media posts about Netflix on your own social media and let's spread the message!

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LinkedIn: PlantPure Nation

FROM OUR PLANTPURE POD DIRECTOR

We have seen a wonderful increase in activity on the Pods website. It is exciting to see more members joining and getting engaged with our resources. We have close to 250 groups now and are growing every day! I would encourage every PlantPure member to explore our Pods, find a group near you, and join it! Group leaders who started these groups work very hard to provide support and education for their local communities. Show your support by joining these groups: http://www.plantpurepods.com/search-location/. Learn more about what is happening in your community, post events, and encourage other people to make better food choices. 

— Katya Trent

JUMPSTART TESTIMONIAL

As we officially launch the PlantPure Jumpstart program, I thought it would be fun to check in on some of our Jumpstart graduates to see how they are doing. I had the awesome opportunity to talk with Carole Jacobs from the Trinity United Church of Christ earlier this winter. Carole’s story is both motivating and instructive for all of us.

She began her journey some seven months ago, after hearing Reverend Otis Moss and his wife, Monica, announce that they would be starting a PlantPure Jumpstart in the coming months. Until this time, Carole had tried different things to lose weight, all without success, and she decided she did not even want to sign up for the program unless she was pretty sure she would stick with it. Based on this thought she gave up eating meat—her idea was if she could give up meat she could go plant-based. At first she experienced headaches for several days, but she then noticed she was sleeping better, had more energy, and had an increased feeling of overall wellness. The icing on the cake? During the two months she did not eat meat, prior to doing the Jumpstart, she lost 20 lbs.

When the opportunity to participate in the PlantPure Jumpstart program arose, she felt she was ready. The thing Carole kept focusing on was how much better she felt—not how much weight she was losing. She says this is a really important concept, because in the past her motivation had been weight loss, which was usually fleeting.

During the 10-day Jumpstart she lost another 6 lbs., and her cholesterol dropped 8 points. At this point Carole was fully on board and committed to making this a lifestyle. She and her husband are surrogate parents and want to be around to see their children become adults and get married.

Carole was a little nervous about the upcoming holidays but was amazed at how easy they were. A Christmas tradition at their home is deep-fried turkey—Carole was surprised she felt no urge to eat the turkey. Rather, she enjoyed her sweet potatoes and greens! She says she now does more grocery shopping, is constantly reading labels, and spends lots of time in the kitchen cooking whole-food, plant-based creations, but she emphasizes that this extra time is all worth it! She has even started exercising because of how energetic she feels and surprised her husband by taking the stairs instead of the elevator.

To date Carole has lost 36 lbs. and feels wonderful. She reports that she could never imagine going back to her old way of eating because of the way it made her feel. Carole’s parting wisdom for all of us: Focus on how great you feel eating whole-food, plant-based foods, not on weight loss, and the rest will fall into place.

—Laura Dietrich

FEATURED PLANTPURE RECIPES
From Kim Campbell

White Veggie Lasagna
Loaded with colorful vegetables, this creamy lasagna is guilt free because you can have the creamy texture without the fat. This dish takes a bit of time to prepare because of its different components, but it’s well worth the effort. It gets better the next day, so make a bunch!

Serves: 6
Prep time: 40 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

12 lasagna noodles (brown rice or whole wheat)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 onion, diced
1/2 cup low-sodium vegetable stock, for sautéing
3 cups chopped fresh spinach
1 cup shredded carrot
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
1 red bell peppers, diced
1 14-ounce block extra-firm tofu, crumbled
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
2 tablespoons tahini
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 batch of Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cook the lasagna noodles according to the package directions.  This recipe won’t work if you don’t precook the lasagna noodles. In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, saute the garlic and onion in the vegetable stock until tender. Add the remaining vegetables and cook until tender. Add the crumbled tofu, nutritional yeast, and tahini.  Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Assembly
Spread ½–1 cup of cauliflower sauce on the bottom of a 9-inch by 9-inch by 3-inch glass baking dish. Layer lasagna noodles, ½–1 cup cauliflower sauce, 1/2 of the veggies, ½–1 cup cauliflower sauce. (I put sauce in each layer twice—once under the veggies and once on top.)

Repeat one more time, ending with a third layer of the lasagna noodles. Cover the top noodle layer with ½–1 cup of the cauliflower sauce. Cover with tinfoil and bake for 25 minutes, to until bubbling along the sides. Remove the cover and bake uncovered for another 10–20 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

Let cool to set before cutting and serving.

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Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce

Our cashew-based fettuccine alfredo is always a hit, but if you want a lighter version, this is a great alternative. This sauce is excellent over pastas, steamed veggies, or baked potatoes; as a dip for tortilla chips; or as a spread for sandwiches.

Serves: 4–6
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients
1 cauliflower head, broken into florets
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 cups non-dairy milk
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add cauliflower florets.  Boil for about 15 minutes, or until tender. Strain the cauliflower and add it to a blender or Vitamix with the remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth and creamy. Add more or less nondairy milk for a thinner or thicker consistency.

START COOKING WHOLE-FOOD, PLANT-BASED RECIPES!

As the film’s official companion book, The PlantPure Nation Cookbook brings this powerful, science-based approach to nutrition from the big screen to your kitchen with some of the same mouthwatering recipes that kick-started the film, promoting the health benefits of a whole-food, plant-based diet.