Mayor Eric Adams’s personal health history and his decision to dramatically alter his diet and lifestyle were widely reported during his campaign and chronicled in his book Healthy at Last. When Mayor Adams went vegan, he lost weight, halted serious vision problems, increased his energy levels, and by all reports is the picture of health. He started the new year with an appearance on Morning Joe touting the benefits of healthy, plant-based eating.
As Mayor, he is seizing an incredible opportunity to proselytize the value of healthy eating and he is making moves to directly impact the health of over a million New York City schoolchildren. He is the first Mayor to assemble a Transition Committee that deals specifically with food policy and healthy eating, and a spectrum of issues from eliminating bologna from school lunches, to using “sustainable, affordable food sources.”
Best-selling author Charles Eisenstein observed, “A society that exploits the most vulnerable people will necessarily exploit the most vulnerable places too. A society devoted to healing on one level inevitably will come to serve healing on every level.” The Mayor’s goal of ending the exploitation of school children as a traditional target for unhealthy food, and to start healing on a level with multiple positive impacts is achievable.
New York City has a number of goals when it comes to improving the diets of children. These include maximizing the value of the City’s procurement dollars, environmental sustainability, promoting chemical-free food, and ensuring there is a valued workforce. The Adams Administration can achieve these goals and support New York State’s climate initiative with a smart approach to purchasing healthy, organic foods from regenerative farms located in New York State.
Our founders and valued work force are excited by the idea of rural New Yorkers joining the Mayor’s fight to heal – children, society, and the planet. Agbotic ( www.agbotic.com ) represents the future of regenerative, carbon-smart farming. We’ve built a better, brighter farm future with soil, roots and robots – growing out of a desire to farm in the smartest possible way for people and the planet.
Our soil-grown, fresh, organic food makes its way to grocery stores across the State as well as to leading restaurants in Manhattan. We are also committed to making it affordable in New York City schools.
It’s time to reverse the trend of moving cheap salt, fat, and sugar through school lunches. The meals that children consume at school should fuel their minds for learning, help build healthy bodies, and form the foundation of healthful eating habits for years to come.
John Gaus is the Founder and Chairman of AgBotic, an organic farming company reimagining controlled environmental agriculture via automation, technology, and environmentally sustainable practices.
