ERIC L. ADAMS: Meet New York City’s first vegan mayor
Adams became vegan in 2016 after being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. In addition to supporting animal welfare issues, he plans to bring his plant-based perspective to the office of mayor.
ANNA STAROSTINETSKAYA: Former Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams officially became the first vegan mayor of New York City, defeating his opponent, Republican Curtis Sliwa… Throughout the campaign trail, Adams and Silwa debated issues such as vaccine requirements for city workers, solutions for helping NYC’s houseless population, and climate change mitigation efforts. However, despite their differences, the two mayoral candidates praised each other for their respective love of animals. For his part, Sliwa — who lives with 16 rescued cats — has been a loud supporter of increasing no-kill animal shelters, ending backyard breeding operations, and banning horse-drawn carriages.
Adams has been vegan since 2016 and, in addition to supporting animal welfare issues, brings his plant-based perspective to the office of mayor… He initially went vegan to combat the debilitating symptoms he experienced after being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. As Brooklyn Borough President, Adams has helped his constituents and fellow New Yorkers gain control of their health through several initiatives, including spearheading a plant-based medicine program within NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, the city’s largest medical system.
In May, Adams also authorized a $10,000 discretionary grant to support plant-based nutrition education at the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate College of Medicine. The funds helped establish the Food as Medicine Initiative, a supplemental program to the existing nutrition curriculum, which teaches future medical professionals the healing power of plant-based foods. To help children gain access to plant-based foods, Adams also worked with former NYC mayor Bill de Blasio to implement Meatless Mondays at 15 schools in Brooklyn…
In his role as mayor, Adams will use his experience of overcoming serious illness with a plant-based diet to inform policy. “I don’t believe the government should tell you what you can have on your grill in your backyard on Saturday. What the government should do is not feed the crises,” Adams told local outlet GrubStreet in a recent interview… Outside of his political career, Adams is also a published author and recently released Healthy at Last, a book in which he details his plant-based transformation… To further expand his message beyond NYC, Adams has also appeared in several documentaries that promote plant-based living. SOURCE…