Plant-Based Diet-Shift Initiative Case Studies: New York City

Editorial Note

This report was produced by Rethink Priorities between July 2024 and September 2024. The project was commissioned and supported by an anonymous funder, which does not necessarily endorse our conclusions.

The report is part of a series of six case studies of diet-shift initiatives towards a more plant-based food system. These cases were chosen from a long list to create a portfolio of cases that demonstrated variety in terms of geographic reach, causal mechanisms, institutions and actors involved, and novelty of approaches.

We have tried to flag major sources of uncertainty in the report and are open to revising our views as more information becomes available.

New York City

Introduction

New York City has taken significant steps in advancing plant-based food policies under Mayor Eric Adams and the Mayor’s Office of Food Policy (MOFP), focusing on reducing the city’s environmental impact and addressing public health concerns. These initiatives include the introduction of plant-based meals in public schools, hospitals, and other city agencies. The city’s purchasing power, with an annual food budget of approximately $330 million, has been leveraged to promote healthier and more sustainable eating habits, contributing to a 26% reduction in food-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from 2019 to 2022​.

In addition to environmental benefits, these policies aim to improve public health by offering more nutritious meal options. For instance, plant-based meals are now the default choice in many public hospitals, and programs like “Plant-Powered Fridays” in schools are part of a broader strategy to encourage plant-forward diets. These efforts are seen as a model for other cities, demonstrating how government-led initiatives can play a role in promoting sustainability and addressing chronic health issues​. This case study showcases the range of levers available to affect plant-based food choices when government bodies decide to make this a priority.

Problem Profile

Agriculture accounts for approximately 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions (US EPA, 2022). New York City officials discovered that “food is the leading source of household emissions in New York City, responsible for 25% of total residential consumption emissions” with eating out and animal products accounting for nearly half of all food emissions, according to the city’s household consumption-based emissions inventory (2023). Food is the third largest contributor to GHG emissions in the city behind buildings (35%) and transportation (21%). New York City has since noted “red meat and dairy products are the primary source of greenhouse gas emissions in household food consumption. Accordingly, New Yorkers can significantly reduce the City’s emissions by eating more low-carbon plant-based products” (Plant-Powered Carbon Challenge, 2023).

Dietary habits in New York City contribute to significant public health challenges. Mayor Eric Adams himself has credited adopting a more plan-based diet with improved health outcomes personally. The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has noted that high consumption of red and processed meats has been associated with an increased risk of chronic health conditions, which are particularly pronounced in communities of color, where structural inequities including limited access to healthy foods exacerbate existing health disparities (New York City Food Standards: 2023 Compliance Report; NYC Health 2023). To address these challenges, the Mayor’s Office of Food Policy has made improving access to plant-based foods a key component of its strategy to promote healthier eating habits across the city’s diverse population.

Initiative Overview

The Mayor’s Office of Food Policy has embarked on a comprehensive and multifaceted approach to increasing plant-based diets across its public institutions and communities, driven by ambitious targets, incrementally improving procurement policies, and educational initiatives.

Ambitious targets

NYC has signed on to numerous global commitments to sustainability and values-based procurement to drive their plant-forward initiatives.

• April 2021: NYC becomes the first city in the USA to sign the Coolfood Pledge—a commitment to reducing GHG emissions associated with food served by 25% by 2030.^[1]
• February 2022: Mayor Adams formalizes New York City’s commitment to the Good Food Purchasing principles (NYC, 2022a), tasking the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the MOFP with revising the City Agency Food Standards, emphasizing environmental sustainability, nutrition, and animal welfare by promoting plant-based foods across public agencies. According to the New York City Food Standards: 2023 Compliance Report, city agencies, serving over 219 million meals and snacks, had an average compliance of 93% with the new Food Standards.
• May 2022: NYC announces its participation in the C40 Good Food Cities Declaration committing to aligning food procurement with the Planetary Health Diet and supporting a shift towards healthy, sustainable plant-based diets.
• February 2023: EcoDataLab publishes the household consumption-based emissions inventory showing that food accounted for 25% of household emissions in New York City.
• April 2023: The city government integrates a target to reduce food-related emissions by 33% by 2030 into PlaNYC, the city’s Climate Action Plan (NYC, 2023). MOFP then established their own voluntary initiative, Plant-Powered Carbon Challenge, designed to engage the private sector in reducing food-related carbon emissions by 25% by 2030. Signatories meet the challenge by using tools like the Coolfood calculator from the World Resources Institute and partnering with Greener by Default, a non-profit organization,​​ to implement changes to their menus to expand people’s choices rather than restrict them (e.g., switching from dairy milk to oat milk by default in coffee drinks, or listing plant-based meals as the first or default option on menus).

Procurement policies

To meet these ambitious targets, New York City has implemented a series of procurement policies that prioritize plant-based options in public institutions. The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene regularly updates the NYC Food Standards, which apply to all city agencies that serve food, including public schools, hospitals, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, and older adult centers. The 2022 standards set minimum serving sizes for fruits, vegetables, and whole grains; require at least one serving of plant-based entrees featuring a whole or minimally processed plant-based protein weekly per meal type; and require the elimination of processed meats by 2025.

A particular focus has been on New York City Public Schools because the Department of Education is the city’s largest procurer of food. In spring 2018, then-Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams launched a Meatless Mondays pilot program in 15 schools in Brooklyn. By the beginning of the 2019-20 school year, this initiative had expanded citywide such that all schools served meatless meals only for both breakfast and lunch (NYC, 2019). The success of Meatless Mondays set the stage for the introduction of Plant-Powered Fridays in 2022 by now-Mayor Eric Adams. Through this program, school cafeterias have featured a plant-based (vegan) dish as the primary menu item every Friday, with a vegetarian option as the secondary choice.

Education and training

New York City’s approach to promoting plant-based diets includes a range of educational and culinary initiatives. These programs focus on public health campaigns, training for foodservice workers, and expanding food education in schools. By integrating these efforts, the city aims to enhance awareness, access, and acceptance of plant-based foods across its diverse population.

Key Initiatives:

• “Eat A Whole Lot More Plants” Campaign
  • Public health campaign promoting plant-based diets through television, radio, subway ads, and digital channels.
• Plant-Based Lifestyle Medicine Program
  • Offers support for individuals with chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes and hypertension, emphasizing the benefits of a plant-based eating pattern.
  • With over 850 patients on the waiting list within the first few months of the Lifestyle Medicine Program’s launch, Mayor Eric Adams expanded the program citywide across all five boroughs (NYC, 2024a). It now services seven public hospitals, with the capacity to serve up to 4,000 people per year.
• Chefs in the Schools Program
  • Developed over 100 plant-based recipes and provided extensive culinary training for school cafeteria staff.
  • Introduced NYC’s first-ever Chefs Council, focusing on culturally relevant, scratch-cooked meals.
• Culinary Training at Rikers Island and Juvenile Justice Centers
  • Secured $100,000 grant from the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance’s Game Changer Fund to train 120 chefs and introduce 12 new plant-based recipes at these facilities.
• Food Education Roadmap
  • Expands food education in public schools, focusing on healthy eating, access to nutritious food, and community wellness advocacy.
  • Includes the distribution of climate and environment documentaries (Eating Our Way to Extinction, Feeding Tomorrow, and The Smell of Money) to over 1,100 teachers, and interactive lessons by New Roots Institute, informing thousands of students about the connections between industrial animal agriculture and its effects on climate change, animal welfare, social justice, food accessibility, and personal and public health.

Challenges

The initial rollout of the Plant-Powered Fridays initiative, originally branded as “Vegan Fridays,” faced backlash due to negative media coverage and student feedback regarding the quality of the meals (Krishna, 2022; Garcia & Touré 2022; Gatti-Santillo, 2022; Smith, 2022). Balancing the budget while maintaining high standards for plant-based options has proven difficult​ too (Ataman, 2023). NYC responded by rebranding the initiative and providing culinary training for kitchen staff.

The city’s efforts to fully implement the Good Food Purchasing initiative have been hindered by restrictive procurement laws, including those which largely require food procurement to be based on costs alone (i.e. the lowest bidder), ignoring other values like nutrition, environmental sustainability, or animal welfare. To address this, the city is advancing new legislation, known as the Good Food NY bill, that aims to expand the city’s ability to leverage its purchasing power more effectively according to values other than financial cost.

Data collection and reporting of food purchases have proven to be inconsistent across city agencies, complicating efforts to monitor and improve the implementation of these initiatives. While some agencies have robust data systems in place, others struggle with low reporting rates, highlighting the need for stronger internal systems to ensure accurate and comprehensive data reporting.

The restrictive nature of NYC’s Food Standards has created challenges regarding the types of plant-based proteins that can be served. As a result, some agencies feel constrained to serving legumes, which can reduce the variety and appeal of plant-based meals. This response highlights the need for more flexible guidelines that can accommodate a broader range of nutritious plant-based foods while still adhering to health standards.

MOFP’s outreach has been targeted towards food service operations with both scale and capacity (i.e., serving a significant number of meals per year, and having staff capacity to evaluate procurement data and measure and track food-based carbon emissions). Additionally, organizations whose clientele are less sensitive to menu changes, such as universities with all-you-care-to-eat dining halls or catering companies with pre-determined menus, have greater success implementing strategies for plant-forward menu engineering. By contrast, recruiting restaurants and retailers with a strong focus on profitability or diners making point-of-sale decisions can be challenging according to those interviewed for this case study.

Despite seeing reductions in animal product purchases overall (more details in the result section), the city saw a ~15.4% increase in seafood purchases by weight between 2019 and 2022 (GFP dashboard). The increase in seafood is concerning from an animal welfare perspective because more animals are required to produce the same amount of product when switching from beef and pork to poultry and seafood (sometimes called “the small animal replacement problem”; Orzechowski, 2022; Piper 2021),—a problem discussed in more detail in the Coolfood case study. The Plant-Powered Carbon Challenge target and methodology is the same as that of the Coolfood Pledge with the exception of requiring that reductions in food-based emissions come from switches from animal-based proteins to plant-based ones, not from high-carbon beef to lower-carbon seafood or poultry. This should over time mean changes to the NYC food system benefit not only the environment and public health, but animals as well.

Results

So far, despite the challenges above, and the still early stage of many of these initiatives there is clear evidence of a change in NYC’s food procurement. As part of the Good Food Purchasing initiative and Coolfood Pledge, the city collects and publishes data on its food purchases on its GFP dashboard, analyzing around 62% of food expenditure across 7 city agencies. Between 2019 and 2022 (skipping over the height of the pandemic which reduced out-of-home consumption), the city has seen a 26.7% reduction in absolute GHG emissions across analyzed food categories; a ~20% per plate reduction in GHG emissions; a 10% reduction in the purchase of animal products by weight and a 12% increase in legumes/nuts/seeds purchases by weight. These statistics may underestimate the direct effect of the initiatives to date though, since many of them have continued to increase uptake and scale over 2023 and 2024. FY 2023 data will be available in the fall of 2024.

Prior to the implementation of Plant-Powered Fridays and Meatless Mondays, meat products were likely served throughout the week in schools. Since the program’s launch, meat has been served only three days per week. This policy has a large effect because during the school year, the Office of Food and Nutrition Services (OFNS) serves approximately 900,000 meals daily across nearly 1,800 schools. This stands out compared to the rest of the country. The latest comparable data available at the national level comes from 2018: 56% of all school districts offered vegetarian meals in at least one of their schools, but only 14% offered vegan meals (Price, 2022; Silberstein, 2020). As another example, among the largest 25 school districts in California in 2022, 68% offered vegetarian options daily or weekly (up from 44% in 2019), but plant-based (non-dairy) options accounted for only 8% of all entrées offered (Friends of the Earth, 2022).

During the 2023-24 school year, school menus featured eight of the Chefs Council’s recipes, and thirteen new recipes will be featured on school menus beginning in Fall 2024. In the 2023-24 school year, 542 schools received the Wellness in the Schools culinary training, and the program will reach all NYC public schools by the end of the 2024-25 school year. In July 2023, MOFP and New York City Public Schools released its One-Year Progress Report of the Food Education Roadmap, including 15+ plant-based recipes developed and menued.

Since the Plant-Powered Carbon Challenge’s launch in April 2023, MOFP has recruited 18 signatories from a range of sectors, including large catering companies Aramark and universities like New York University (source: interview with city officials). A press release (NYC, 2024b) suggested the 13 inaugural signatories “have the potential to reduce emissions by nearly 40,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year”, though city officials have since suggested they now believe these figures to be an underestimate. Columbia University was the first to sign up to the challenge and already reduced their servings of beef by 30% and carbon footprint by 20.9% in the first 4 months of the challenge (Columbia, 2024; Plant-Powered Carbon Challenge Annual report, 2024).

Lessons Learned

New York City’s experience with implementing plant-based dietary initiatives has provided several key insights that can guide future efforts, both within the city and in other jurisdictions.

Measurement is the first step

The series of commitments the city has made have held them accountable for tracking and measuring food-based carbon emissions and reporting procurement data publicly. For example, as a Coolfood signatory, NYC has gained critical insights into the climate impacts of its food procurement practices and annually reports this information on MOFP’s GFP dashboard within the “Environmental Sustainability” tab. The household emissions study also put a spotlight on the impact of food purchases.

Training and food education

One of the most impactful lessons from New York City’s implementation of plant-based dietary initiatives is the importance of pairing these initiatives with robust culinary workforce training and food education. The feedback to the Plant-Powered Fridays initiative highlighted that successful implementation goes beyond simply offering plant-based options—it requires ensuring that these meals are appealing and culturally relevant. By rebranding the initiative and providing targeted culinary training for kitchen staff, the city was able to increase acceptance and satisfaction among students. Support from Sodexo’s Healthcare team and partnerships with nonprofit Greener by Default were crucial to the success of the healthcare plant-based defaults program. These organizations spearheaded the rollout of the plant-based default by developing nutritious, tasty, and culturally responsive recipes, naming dishes carefully to ensure maximum diner appeal, training healthcare and foodservice staff to correctly present the plant-based option to patients, and collecting diner feedback and rates of satisfaction.

A phased approach

The rollout of these programs has also highlighted the value of a phased approach. The soft launch of the Meatless Mondays pilot in Brooklyn schools provided valuable insights that informed the successful expansion of the initiative citywide, which informed the subsequent Plant-Powered Fridays. The initial pilots in hospitals of the plant-based default and the lifestyle medicine program gave space for learning and progress needed before programs could be scaled.

The process of recruiting participants into the Plant-Powered Carbon Challenge requires patience and persistence, with a typical timeline of about six months from initial contact to formal commitment. This timeline, while lengthy, is necessary to build trust and ensure that institutions are fully on board with the initiative’s goals. As noted earlier, it has proven more effective to first reach out to organizations whose clientele are less sensitive to menu changes, such as universities and public institutions. Even within the Challenge itself, signatory Columbia University found that “small, subtle shifts are key”, starting out with the baking program as a more feasible confidence-building first step (Plant-based Carbon Challenge Annual report, 2024, p. 7).

A broad-based message around plant-based food

One critical lesson is the need for flexibility in what is considered plant-based and taking a wide understanding of what counts. Policymakers may want to consider plant-based food requirements that simply include plant proteins, rather than specifically mandating a minimally processed one. Furthermore, policymakers have learned that terms like “plant-powered” and “plant-forward” resonate better than “vegan.”

Leadership is crucial

Finally, leveraging leadership and public advocacy has been essential. Mayor Eric Adams has played a key role in promoting plant-based options throughout city-owned hospitals and has used his platform to encourage other institutions across New York City to follow suit. Cultivating a pipeline of individuals who are passionate about this field could create more opportunities in other cities. NYC has been able to position itself as a leader amongst municipalities looking to report on Scope 3 GHG emissions, and often meets with other cities looking to make similar carbon reduction commitments to share our methodology. This public leadership has been instrumental in advancing the city’s plant-forward approach, showing that top-down support is essential for the success of such transformative initiatives.

Conclusion

New York City’s efforts to promote plant-forward food policies under Mayor Eric Adams provide valuable insights into how government initiatives can drive meaningful change in public health and environmental sustainability. By leveraging its substantial purchasing power and implementing targeted strategies, the city has made progress in reducing food-related greenhouse gas emissions and encouraging healthier eating habits. The city’s approach, which includes updating procurement policies, introducing plant-based defaults, and investing in education and training, offers a practical model for other municipalities seeking to achieve similar outcomes.

For philanthropists and advocates, this case study highlights the importance of a comprehensive and phased approach when implementing dietary shifts at scale. The lessons learned in New York City—such as the need for strong leadership, the value of robust training and education programs, and the benefits of setting clear, measurable targets—can be applied in various contexts to support sustainable food system transformations. Additionally, this example underscores the significance of collaboration between public institutions, non-profits, and the private sector to ensure that initiatives are not only implemented but also sustained over time. By adapting these strategies to local conditions, other cities and organizations can build on New York City’s experience to advance their own plant-forward policies effectively.

Methodology

This collection of case studies was developed through a rigorous, evidence-based approach, ensuring a balanced and objective analysis of dietary transitions across various sectors. The methodology utilized existing literature on plant-based food initiatives, reviewing public-facing materials from organizations working on encouraging plant-based foods, conducting online searches, and key informant interviews. This process involved a comprehensive review of initiatives spanning government policies, retail and food service transitions, and alternative protein companies, farmer transitions, and animal protein company transitions, with examples drawn from both high-income and middle-income countries.

Case study selection

An initial list of 38 potential case studies was identified based on the initiative’s ability to drive significant dietary change and potential for scalability and was evaluated based on a set of predefined success criteria. The primary criteria was that the initiative was designed and intended to increase the share of plant-foods chosen.

This goal intention was the dominant selection criteria. Firstly, rather than attempt to select successful initiatives a priori, as determining whether a given initiative caused changes in food type usage is generally difficult, and reductions/increases are often incorrectly assumed to occur. Experience shows that, in the majority of cases, conclusive evidence is likely to be lacking, and even basic data on actual food type usage before and after the initiative may be altogether unavailable

Secondly, the reliance on this criterion was due to a rather uniform state of the data on many other proposed criteria (Stakeholder engagement, Environmental and economic impacts, Policy and health impacts). The list was systematically narrowed down to six case studies based on an assessment of data reliability and the strength of evidence to support the criteria above, making them critical considerations in the selection process. While many case studies offered generic evidence of success across sectors, efforts were made to prioritise those with concrete, tailored data.

In assembling the final collection, the focus was on creating a diverse portfolio of interventions across geographic and sectoral lines. Examples from both high- and middle-income economies, such as the United States, Germany, Brazil, and India, were included to reflect a broad range of contexts. Additionally, case studies were selected to illustrate both inspiration, practical challenges and enablers of success, ensuring a holistic representation of the state of dietary transitions with transferable insights into other contexts and regions.

Interviewees were selected for each case study on the basis of having been personally involved in the key organisations driving the change in question. In many cases these people were already known to the research team and in others were suggested to us through known relevant contacts. Each case study had one key interviewee to draw information from, in addition to desk research.

Limitations

While this methodology focused on ensuring data reliability and strength of evidence, it inherently limited the scope of the case studies selected. Newer initiatives, which may not yet have comprehensive data or only applied at tiny scale, were not included, resulting in a portfolio composed primarily of well-established cases rather than primarily emerging examples. This approach also led to the exclusion of transitions among livestock and meat companies, and farmer transition case studies, where current evidence remains limited or impacts small in scale. Additionally, the analysis reflects data available at the time of the case studies’ completion, meaning any subsequent reports or new findings were not captured. These gaps highlight areas for future research and expansion as more data becomes available and emerging initiatives mature.

Given the limited interview sample, there are likely aspects of the case studies that are somewhat biased and were not corrected for adequately through desk research to validate claims.

Inherent to the case study methodology, these limitations underscore the importance of continual monitoring and data collection to provide a more comprehensive view of the evolving landscape of dietary transitions.

Bibliography

Ataman, D. (2023). New York City’s adoption of plant-forward menus in hospitals and schools offer insight to replicability for the rest of the country. Food Navigator USA. https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2023/05/23/new-york-city-s-adoption-of-plant-forward-menus-in-hospitals-and-schools-offer-insight-to-replicability-for-the-rest-of-the-country

Better Food Foundation. (2024a). The Research on Nudges: DefaultVeg Works | Better Food Foundation. https://www.betterfoodfoundation.org/research-and-reports/research-on-nudges-defaultveg-works/

Better Food Foundation. (2024b). Research on Defaults: How Can Plant-Based Nudges Be Implemented Effectively? | Better Food Foundation. Retrieved August 28, 2024, from https://www.betterfoodfoundation.org/news/research-on-defaults-how-can-plant-based-nudges-be-implemented-effectively/

Boronowsky, R. D., Zhang, A. W., Stecher, C., Presley, K., Mathur, M. B., Cleveland, D. A., Garnett, E., Wharton, C., Brown, D., Meier, A., Wang, M., Braverman, I., & Jay, J. A. (2022). Plant-based default nudges effectively increase the sustainability of catered meals on college campuses: Three randomized controlled trials. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2022.1001157

Campbell-Arvai, V., Arvai, J., & Kalof, L. (2014). Motivating Sustainable Food Choices: The Role of Nudges, Value Orientation, and Information Provision. Environment and Behavior, 46(4), 453–475. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916512469099

Chefs in the Schools – Wellness in the Schools. (n.d.). Retrieved August 28, 2024, from https://www.wellnessintheschools.org/program/chefs-in-the-schools/

Cities. (n.d.). Better Food Foundation. Retrieved August 28, 2024, from https://www.betterfoodfoundation.org/take-action/cities/

CNCA Game Changer Fund – CNCA. (n.d.). Retrieved August 28, 2024, from https://carbonneutralcities.org/cnca-game-changer-fund/

Cobe, P. (2022). How LinkedIn’s cafeteria drives diners toward plant-forward eating. Food Service Diretor. https://www.foodservicedirector.com/sustainability/how-linkedins-cafeteria-drives-diners-toward-plant-forward-eating

Food For Climate League. (2023). Serving Up Plants By Default. Food For Climate League. https://www.foodforclimateleague.org/store/p/serving-up-plants-by-default

Friends of the Earth. (2023, September 19). New Analysis: Plant-Based Meals on the Rise in California Schools. Friends of the Earth. https://foe.org/news/plant-based-trends-schools/

Garcia, D., & Touré, M. (2022). Soggy salad has replaced mystery meat at NYC schools on Vegan Fridays—POLITICO. Politico. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/26/soggy-salad-has-replaced-mystery-meat-at-nyc-schools-on-vegan-fridays-00011730

Gatti-Santillo, C. (2022). New York City students push back against vegan lunches: “I like meat more” | Fox News. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/new-york-city-students-vegan-lunches-meat

Gingerella, B. (2024). Sodexo doubles down on plant-based offerings at college campuses. FoodService Director. https://www.foodservicedirector.com/operations/sodexo-doubles-down-plant-based-offerings-college-campuses

Ginn, J., & Sparkman, G. (2024). Can you default to vegan? Plant-based defaults to change dining practices on college campuses. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 93, 102226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102226

Good Food Purchasing—Food Policy. (n.d.). Retrieved August 28, 2024, from https://www.nyc.gov/site/foodpolicy/good-food-purchasing/good-food-purchasing.page

Gravert, C., & Kurz, V. (2021). Nudging à la carte: A field experiment on climate-friendly food choice. Behavioural Public Policy, 5(3), 378–395. https://doi.org/10.1017/bpp.2019.11

Hansen, P. G., Schilling, M., & Malthesen, M. S. (2021). Nudging healthy and sustainable food choices: Three randomized controlled field experiments using a vegetarian lunch-default as a normative signal. Journal of Public Health, 43(2), 392–397. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdz154

Krishna, P. (2022, March 14). New York’s Mayor Is Building an Agenda Around Food. Will It Satisfy? The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/14/dining/eric-adams-vegan-nyc.html

Lifestyle Medicine Programs. (n.d.). NYC Health + Hospitals. Retrieved August 28, 2024, from https://www.nychealthandhospitals.org/services/lifestyle-medicine-program/

Meier, J., Andor, M. A., Doebbe, F. C., Haddaway, N. R., & Reisch, L. A. (2022). Review: Do green defaults reduce meat consumption? Food Policy, 110, 102298. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2022.102298

NYC. (2019). Mayor de Blasio Announces Citywide Meatless Mondays | City of New York. https://www.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/135-19/mayor-de-blasio-chancellor-carranza-brooklyn-borough-president-adams-citywide#/0

NYC. (2022a). Mayor Adams Takes Executive Action to Promote Healthy Food in New York City | City of New York. https://www.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/070-22/mayor-adams-takes-executive-action-promote-healthy-food-new-york-city#/0

NYC. (2022b). Hospital-food. https://www.nyc.gov/site/foodpolicy/about/hospital-food.page

NYC. (2023). Mayor Adams Commits to Reducing City’s Food-Based Emissions by 33 Percent by 2030 | City of New York. https://www.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/263-23/mayor-adams-commits-reducing-city-s-food-based-emissions-33-percent-2030-after-releasing#/0

NYC. (2024a). Mayor Adams Completes Citywide Expansion of Lifestyle Medicine Program | City of New York. https://www.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/216-24/mayor-adams-completes-citywide-expansion-lifestyle-medicine-program-new-site-launches-today-in#/0

NYC. (2024b). Mayor Adams Announces Cross-Sector Partnership to Reduce Food-Related Carbon Emissions Across NYC. The Official Website of the City of New York. http://www.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/284-24/mayor-adams-cross-sector-partnership-reduce-food-related-carbon-emissions-across-nyc

NYC Health (2023). Eat Plants! Retrieved August 28, 2024, from https://www.nyc.gov/site/doh/about/press/pr2023/nyc-launches-eat-a-whole-lot-more-plants.page

NYC Health + Hospitals. (2022). Mayor Adams & NYC Health + Hospitals Announce Successful Rollout and Expansion of Plant-Based Meals as Primary Option for Patients in NYC Public Hospitals—NYC Health + Hospitals. https://www.nychealthandhospitals.org/pressrelease/mayor-adams-nyc-health-hospitals-announce-successful-rollout-and-expansion-of-plant-based-meals-as-primary-option-for-patients-in-nyc-public-hospitals/

NYC Health + Hospitals. (2023). NYC Health + Hospitals Now Serving Plant-Based Meals as Primary Dinner Option for Inpatients At All of Its 11 Public Hospitals—NYC Health + Hospitals. https://www.nychealthandhospitals.org/pressrelease/nyc-health-hospitals-now-serving-plant-based-meals-as-primary-dinner-option-for-inpatients-at-all-of-its-11-public-hospitals/

NYC Health + Hospitals. (2024a). NYC Health + Hospitals Celebrates 1.2 Million Plant-Based Meals Served—NYC Health + Hospitals. https://www.nychealthandhospitals.org/pressrelease/nyc-health-hospitals-celebrates-1-2-million-plant-based-meals-served/

NYC Health + Hospitals. (2024b). Patient Meals—NYC Health + Hospitals. https://www.nychealthandhospitals.org/services/patient-meals/

NYC Mayor’s office of Climate & Environmental Justice. (n.d.). NYC Household Consumption Based GHG Emissions Inventory—NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice. Retrieved August 28, 2024, from https://climate.cityofnewyork.us/reports/nyc-household-consumption-based-ghg-emissions-inventory/

NYC Public Schools. (2024). Plant Powered Friday. https://www.schools.nyc.gov/school-life/food/school-meals/plant-powered

Orzechowski. (2022). Global Animal Slaughter Statistics & Charts: 2022 Update—Faunalytics. Faunlytics. https://faunalytics.org/global-animal-slaughter-statistics-charts-2022-update/

Piper, K. (2021). A no-beef diet is great, but don’t replace it with chicken | Vox. Vox. https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22430749/beef-chicken-climate-diet-vegetarian

Price, M. (2022). New York City school lunch menu going vegan on Fridays | AP News. Associated Press. https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-new-york-education-new-york-city-nyc-state-wire-bca2dcfd0dda46cb08160baf6ecfcc86

Reisch, L. A., & Sunstein, C. R. (2021). Plant-Based By Default. One Earth, 4(9), 1205–1208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2021.08.007

Silberstein, B. R. (2020). Schools deal with vegan food learning curve. Times Union. https://www.timesunion.com/renew/education/article/School-deal-with-vegan-food-learning-curve-14995496.php

Smith, K. (2022). Vegan Eric Adams tries to force his diet on kids—Haven’t they suffered enough? NY Post. https://nypost.com/2022/02/04/vegan-mayor-tries-to-force-his-diet-on-kids-havent-they-suffered-enough/

US EPA, O. (2015, December 29). Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions [Overviews and Factsheets]. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions

Wise, J., & Vennard, D. (2019). It’s All in a Name: How to Boost the Sales of Plant-Based Menu Items. https://www.wri.org/insights/its-all-name-how-boost-sales-plant-based-menu-items

Zhang, A., Boronowsky, R., Braverman, I., Stecher, C., Cleveland, D., Garnett, E., Wang, M., & Jay, J. (2022). Using the Default Nudge to Increase Plant-based Meal Consumption on College Campuses. Current Developments in Nutrition, 6, 84. https://doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzac050.014

1. Another case study in this series looks at Coolfood. ↑
2. Ginn & Sparkman, 2024; Food for Climate League, 2023; Boronowsky et al., 2022; Meier et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2022; Gravert & Kurz, 2021; Hansen et al., 2021; Reisch & Sunstein, 2021; and Campbell-Arvai et al., 2014. ↑