NYC plant-powered school meal program reduces overall emissions by over 40%, report finds
The Plant-Powered Fridays scheme was introduced to help improve student health, but it’s also having a significant impact on reducing emissions too.
A plant-powered school meal program in New York has reduced carbon emissions by over 40 percent, a new environmental report has found.
Launched in February 2022, the Plant-Powered Fridays scheme serves a nutritious, plant-based dish as the main menu item every Friday at New York City public schools.
As the nation's largest school district with around 1,700 public schools, it’s estimated that 1.1 million school children are eating plant-based food at school at least once a week as part of the program.
Now a report into the environmental impact of the scheme has confirmed that it has led to a 42 percent reduction in overall emissions per student.
The report analyzed the environmental impacts of food purchases made by the city’s Department of Education’s Office of Food and Nutrition Services in October of 2018 and 2022.
By comparing the environmental impacts of food purchases made before and during the scheme, the report found that the increase in plant-based menu options made “substantial improvements” to New York City schools’ carbon, land and water footprints.
Swapping meat and dairy products in favor of more climate-friendly plant-based meals has helped the scheme reduce the carbon and water footprints from animal products by roughly 40 percent, and the land footprint from animal products by over 50 percent.
Overall, the carbon footprint of food purchases was about 30 pounds lower per student, or 16,000 tons lower in total. This reduction is equivalent to the amount of carbon saved by recycling 640,000 bags of trash or planting 240,000 trees and growing them for 10 years, explains the Humane Society of the United States, which compiled the report with help from sustainability consultants.
The scheme has also saved on the water footprint of food purchases, with about 300 gallons lower per student. This saves 320 million gallons overall, which is enough drinking water for 3.5 million people for a year.
Climate experts have been impressed with the impact of the scheme.
“In my 15 years as a sustainability scientist, these are the largest improvements in environmental outcomes from a food service program that I have ever seen”, said Isaac Emery, project director for consulting firm WSP USA, which helped contribute to the report.
Plant-based meals for a healthier NYC and planet
The pioneering Plant-Powered Fridays program has seen New York City lead the way on how government institutions can incorporate plant-based food to help improve public health and reduce climate impact.
It was launched by Mayor Eric Adams as part of a wave of several other plant-based initiatives across the city, which have seen access to healthy, plant-forward food increase for hospitals, prisons, and communities all over the city.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams tastes a plant-based dish at the NYC Health + Hospitals Culinary Center. Credit: NYC Health + Hospitals
The reception to the schemes has been positive, both from industry and the public.
NYC Health + Hospitals, which serves more than a million New Yorkers across the city’s five boroughs each year, says that its new plant-based meals have a patient satisfaction rate of over 90 percent. The municipal health care system has overhauled its menus to add more healthy, vibrant plant-forward meals, as well as introducing a policy that serves plant-based meals as the default option.
And there is hope that these successes could inspire more plant-forward schemes across the country to help improve national public health, lower climate impact, and decrease demand for animal products.
“We hope to see other school districts around the country emulating New York City’s leadership by prioritizing sustainability, health and animal welfare”, said Kate Watts, director of Food Service Innovation at the Humane Society of the United States.
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