PETA Cheers As Every New York City Public School Bans Processed Meats

New York City students will be healthier, and animals will be a whole lot happier—the city council has passed a ban on all processed meats in public school lunches!

With the passage of Resolution 238, the New York City Department of Education eliminated processed meats such as hot dogs, pepperoni, bacon, and sausage from school menus. The momentous new policy cites a 2015 report from the World Health Organization that lists processed meats among human carcinogens.

According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, vegans have lower rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer than meat-eaters do. Meanwhile, the National Cancer Institute has revealed that the rate of colorectal cancer in young people is on the rise.

Is this New York City’s “Green New Deal” in the works?

Earlier this year, as a part of the city’s own “Green New Deal” initiative to become carbon neutral by 2050, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the goals of OneNYC 2050. Among them are plans to reduce the amount of meat served in city-operated facilities such as schools, hospitals, and jails. De Blasio also noted that OneNYC 2050 aims to eliminate cancer-causing processed meats from these facilities’ menus completely and to reduce the amount of beef purchased by the city by 50%.

This school lunch policy is just the latest in a line of new initiatives that New York City has passed to curb the city’s unhealthy meat consumption. In 2017, New York officials helped pass “Meatless Monday” programs in 15 schools in Brooklyn, and de Blasio expanded the program to all 1,700 public schools just this year. The city has also worked with NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue to create a plant-based food program to treat patients suffering from various chronic illnesses, such as heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.

PETA applauds New York City’s efforts to reduce its meat consumption. These decisions could no doubt lead to a healthier, more compassionate generation of young people—all while sparing countless animals a painful and terrifying death. We’ll continue to push everyone to support programs like these that help move society toward a vegan future.

Save Nearly 200 Animals a Year by Going Vegan Today!

Even if you’re already vegan, you probably have friends and family members who aren’t. Remind them that one person’s choices can make a big difference to animals.

Note: PETA supports animal rights, opposes all forms of animal exploitation, and provides the public with information on these issues. PETA does not directly or indirectly participate or intervene in any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office or any political party