Schoolchildren studying history in New York City may one day be contemplating the ham sandwich and BLT with incredulity after the Big Apple’s decision to take processed meat off the menu at public institutions.
Hospitals, colleges, children’s homes and homeless shelters are among the other city-run establishments that will have to stop serving sausages, chorizo and bacon from 1 July as updated food standards come into force, designed to tackle a health crisis and obesity epidemic.
The new rules, revised by the New York City health department and the Mayor’s Office of Food Policy, will also curb the use of artificial preservatives and additives, including colours and sweeteners, and insist that more “minimally processed” plant proteins be served. Though even meat alternatives that have been more than minimally processed are greener and more nutritious than the hamburgers, beef mince and chicken Kyivs they are replacing, according to the Food Foundation.
The city’s acting health commissioner, Dr Michelle Morse, said the change underlined a commitment to ensure residents can access healthier food through the HealthyNYC programme, adding: “The NYC health department furthers its efforts to increase life expectancy by targeting chronic diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Every New Yorker deserves access to delicious healthy food that they feel good about eating.”
In point of fact, the city’s education system has been leading from the front in terms of more planet-friendly food. NYC schools joined Meatless Monday, MFM’s sister organisation in the US, After a successful pilot scheme in 2018. Vegan Fridays were rolled out in 2022, introduced by the mayor, Eric Adams, who adopted a plant-based diet after being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
A French study in 2023 suggested a direct association between the additives in processed meat and the risk of developing the disease, and a US one in 2019 showed plant-based food reduced that risk. Processed meat has also been associated with an increased risk of heart disease and dementia, and found to cause breathing diseases such as bronchitis and emphysema to worsen – while the World Health Organisation has warned that it is “as carcinogenic as cigarettes”.