New York City Mayor Eric Adams is on a mission to reduce food-related carbon emissions in the New York City area. To that end, the mayor is leading a plant-powered challenge to reduce food-related carbon emissions by 25% by 2030. The administration has partnered with New York City-based institutions and foodservice providers such as Aramark and Morrison Healthcare. To reach the climate target, Plant-Powered Carbon Challenge partners are committing to procuring and serving more plant-based foods. To help support its partners on this goal, The Mayor’s Office of Food Policy will collaborate with nonprofit Greener by Default to provide tools to track emissions and share best practices on shifting forward plant-forward menus.
The commitments made by the challenge partners have the potential to reduce emissions by nearly 40,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year, according to a statement.
“In order to tackle the climate crisis, we need to take control of our plates,” said Mayor Adams, in the statement. “We’re committed to doing our part as a city, but we can’t do it alone. Our Plant-Powered Carbon Challenge partners are stepping up to cut down on their food-related emissions, create a more sustainable food system, deliver nutritional equity and food justice for all, and make New York City healthier and greener. New York City is leading the way in reimagining our food system, and we’re grateful to our partners for taking a leading role in building a more sustainable future.”
Columbia University signed onto the Plant-Powered Carbon Challenge in December, establishing itself as the first official signatory. Columbia Dining has made several changes to its operations since signing onto the challenge. For instance, the dining team now offers plant-based menus at the main action station two to three times a week. On offer recently was mushroom Bolognese pasta, shitake mushroom and roasted sweet potato quesadillas and red bean curry served over rice.
In the healthcare sector, Morrison Healthcare at Mount Sinai Health System has joined the challenge.
“It’s an honor to be a part of the plant-powered carbon challenge with Mayor Adams and the Office of Public Food Policy has been fantastic. Every day at Morrison Healthcare, we see firsthand the impact that good food has, especially plant-forward menus, on impacting a patient’s health. And its really good to know that we’re promoting healthier choices for the community, that we’re also promoting healthier choices for the planet,” said Lisa Roberson, national director of wellness and sustainability for Morrison Healthcare, in a press conference. “But the best part is how delicious and nutritious it can actually be. I think our chefs had a lot of creative fun designing menus. And when our hospital visitors and patients come in, they have a really fun time too, the food is absolutely stunning.”
One of Roberson’s favorite plant-forward offerings is the “It’s pretty fly for fungi” crispy oyster mushroom salad, which can be found on the mushroom-based menu dubbed All Caps.
Some other partners of the challenge include the New York Botanical Garden, The Good Eating Company and The Rockefeller Foundation.