Bill S1471A/A4072, introduced by Senator Brad Hoylman and Assembly Member Richard Gottfried, requires hospitals in New York to make plant-based meals and snacks– free of animal products and animal by-products available at every meal. The bill also requires hospitals to list the plant-based options on all written materials and menus.

Nearly 1.7 million New Yorkers have diabetes and heart disease accounts for 40 percent of all deaths in New York State, according to the New York State Department of Health. Research shows that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans can help fight heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and cancer.

The bill was championed by True Health Initiative and Physicians Committee, a non-profit organization that was a major driver of the bill’s success, among other notable organizations. “THI was happy to petition Governor Cuomo to pass this bill, sending a letter with the signatories of our full board of directors,” says THI executive director, Jennifer Lutz.

The passing of this bill is part of a series of measures being taken to improve dietary standards and therbye health, within institutions. True Health Initiative also supports the work of partner organization, New York City Healthy School Food Alliance, a group working to improve the quality of food in all New York City Schools and champions the efforts of Brooklyn Borough President, Eric Adams who initiated and expanded Meatless Mondays to all NYC public schools, and  all eleven NYC public hospitals. Processed meat, a class one carcinogen according to the World Health Organization, has also been banned from New York City public schools thanks to Adams’ efforts. Additionally, the Borough President has a plant-based lifestyle medicine clinic with Bellevue Hospital, which is empowering patients to prevent and reverse disease. He is currently working on expanding the program to more hospitals throughout the city as well as other plant-based initiatives.  

True Health Initiative will continue to work with partner organizations and like-minded public servants to ensure that all people have access to healthy meals and healthy lives. 

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Email: jlutz@truehealthintiative.org.      

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ABOUT THE TRUE HEALTH INITIATIVE: We are a global coalition of world-renowned specialists, fighting fake facts and combating false doubts to create a culture free of preventable disease, while conjointly safeguarding planetary health using the time-honored and evidence-based practices of lifestyle as medicine. As the authoritative voice on lifestyle as medicine, we are working to change policy, by enlisting leading experts and commissioning a collection of research to fight fake facts and fix a broken system; change minds, by demonstrating and disseminating the global consensus on the fundamental, evidence-based truths of lifestyle as medicine; and improve lives, by working with communities to create a healthier culture that adds life to years and years to life. Learn more at http://truehealthinitiative.org