Desperate Meat Industry Fighting Meatless Mondays in NYC Schools

As New York City public schools join Meatless Mondays, the desperate meat industry’s wasting no time in being a bully, trying to push veg meals off the menu for students.

This week, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza, and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adam announced some amazing food for kids and animals: all New York City public schools will participate in Meatless Mondays starting in the 2019-2020 school year.

The meat industry is already pushing  back, clearly worried about what this means for declining demand for cruelly produced animal products.

In a letter to Mayor de Blasio, Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts claimed the policy would deny children access to nutritious food, despite overwhelming research pointing to meat as a cause of a myriad of health issues in both children and adults, including America’s number one killer: heart disease.

The truth is, the healthiest options are meals full of fruits, vegetables, and healthy whole grains. Meatless Mondays provides a jumping off point to continue moving away from harmful animal-based foods and towards a wholesome, compassionate, and sustainable plant-based diet.

It is to be expected that in this threat to its bottom line, the profit-driven meat industry will do anything to protect its own interests, even if those interests are not the best choice for New York City children. As we continue to receive good news for animals, the industry will continue to resist science and consumer demand.

We look forward to seeing how this new initiative manifests, and applaud New York City schools for making choices that are better for the next generations and for our health, animals, and the future of the planet.

Big Ag: It’s time to get on board and embrace plants, or be left behind.