Weekend viewing: New York City’s new “Eat plants” campaign

Welcome to New York City ‘s new “Eat A Whole Lot More Plants” campaign “to put scrumptious sprouts and piquant produce on New Yorkers’ menus.”

The Health Department launched a new campaign that urges New Yorkers to put plants on their plates and adopt a healthy balanced diet full of whole foods. Whole and minimally processed plant foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, and nuts are good for health as they are high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals and don’t come packaged with high amounts of sodium, added sugar, or unhealthy fats. The campaign titled “Eat A Whole Lot More Plants” highlights how eating a diet with lots of plants is one way to improve health and can help manage and reduce risk of type 2 diabetes.

The campaign begins with video ads.

It includes  ideas to increase intake of tasty shrub grub, like fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, and whole grains.

It “builds on the Mayor’s commitment to improve the food environment and combat climate change throughout New York City. ”

The campaign includes:

• Plant-powered Fridays in public schools.
• Updated NYC Food Standards for Meals and Snacks Purchased and Served and for Food, Vending Machines on City Property.
• Plant-based meals in public hospitals.
• Commitment to reduce absolute carbon emissions from food purchases across city agencies by 33% by 2030.
• A new partnership with the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) to provide every New York City health care practitioner with free introductory training in lifestyle medicine with a special focus on plant-based nutrition.
• An expansion of NYC Health + Hospitals’ (H+H) groundbreaking lifestyle medicine services at six new sites across all five boroughs to provide patients living with chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure the tools, support, and guidance to treat and prevent common conditions using lifestyle interventions including a plant-predominant eating pattern.

I hope it also includes an evaluation.  Let’s try it and see if it works!