Jacob Frey, the current mayor of Minneapolis, issued a proclamation last week urging residents to eat more plant-based foods.
The announcement comes amid mounting concerns about climate change. After the Trump administration withdrew the United States from the Paris climate agreement, mayors such as Frey are taking action on a smaller-scale to help the environment.
“If each American affirmatively chose to eat plant-based food at just one meal per week, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off U.S. roads,” states the proclamation.
Frey continued that he and his team encourage all residents to “make an effort to eat plant-based food and choose plant-based products in furtherance of our environmental goals, and celebrate our ongoing commitment to exceed the standards put forth in the Paris Agreement by doing our part right here in Minneapolis.”
Frey is not the only one who has encouraged Minneapolis to embrace more plant-based foods. In 2014, Cam Gordon, a member of the Minneapolis City Council, issued a proclamation pushing for residents to go meatless on a monday every week. Gordon, a longtime vegetarian for environmental reasons, wanted residents of the city to recognize how avoiding meat and other animal products could have a positive effect on their health, animal welfare, and the planet.
Around the globe, people are reducing their intake of animal products as the negative impact of meat and dairy production becomes more widely known. Last month, the largest-ever analysis of the impact that food production has on the planet revealed that ditching, or even reducing, animal products is the single most effective way one can reduce their personal carbon footprint and contribution to global warming.
More recently, a study commissioned by the plant-based milk brand Ripple analyzed the carbon footprint of plant-based milk and dairy milk. The study revealed that dairy milk emits more than three-and-a-half times more carbon than plant-based milk. It also affirmed that milk made from plants removes carbon dioxide from the air, and for some plant species, balances nitrogen levels in the soil.
Image Credit: JacobFreyForMpls
