New York City - Less Meat More Veg - Greenpeace - Less Meat More Veg - Greenpeace

Big news coming out of the Big Apple! New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams announced that all 1,700 NYC public schools will serve meatless meals every Monday!

De Blasio mentioned in public coments that an initiative that began with only fifteen schools in Brooklyn has now expanded to every public school in New York City in only a few years. Both de Blasio and Adams cited the need to combat climate change and secure student health the main reasons for expanding the initiative. Now, more than 1.1 million students will have a vegetarian meal every week. And what’s more, the school district is saving money by serving vegetarian and vegan meals. Everybody wins here.

Adams, who plans on running for NYC mayor in 2021 when de Blasio steps down, says, “I would like to see healthy, plant-based meals offered every single day in every school. I envision kids learning about food, nutrition, and environmental impacts of the food system.”

Let’s hope his vision becomes a reality.

Greenpeace’s global challenge:

Our supporters are challenging cities to race to the top on meat reduction to protect our climate, forests, and water. We aim to have at least 50 cities commit to serving two vegetarian meals (no meat or dairy options) in all public canteens weekly by the end of 2019. We expect to have at least 100 global cities make this or a greater commitment toward less and better meat and more plant-rich meals by 2020.

take action

In October 2019, city mayors affiliated with C40 and the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact convened to discuss future policies to address the climate crisis.

More than 200 scientists banded together, urging mayors to adopt ambitious food policies to reduce meat for the climate. 14 mayors signed a commitment to become ‘Good Food Cities’, considerably reducing meat served in their public institutions.

Dozens of cities are taking action. It’s a great start but not nearly enough. Add your name below to receive a Cities Toolkit that will give you step-by-step instructions on how to move your city or school toward Less Meat More Veg.

Thank you for joining the movement.


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