No Baloney: Local Pols Look to Ban Processed Meat in School Lunches

Citing concerns about the carcinogenic effects of processed meats like baloney, city lawmakers want to ban the lunchmeats from New York school lunches.

Resolution 238 would call upon the Department of Education to ban processed meats from being served in New York City public schools. Introduced at the request of Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, the resolution has three sponsors, including Brooklyn Councilmember Justin Brannan.

Adams frequently mentions his plant-based diet, which he uses to successfully manage Type 2 diabetes, while Councilmember Brannan is reportedly a vegetarian as well.

“We cannot continue feeding our children substances that are scientifically proven to increase their chances of cancer later in life,” Adams said.

“Chicken nuggets and sloppy joes are in the same class of substances as cigarettes. We know that we would never give our children cigarettes to smoke, so there’s absolutely no reason why we should continue poisoning our children’s health with processed foods.

The Borough President’s statements are backed up by a 2015 World Health Organization study that linked both red and processed meats to cancer.

Even with the recommendation, changing the way the Department of Education feeds its students is no small order—New York public schools serve almost 950,000 meals a day, some of which include processed meat. Will the Mayor’s office be on board?

“This Administration is committed to providing all our students with free healthy and nutritious meals. We launched the Meatless Monday program and are reviewing this proposal,” mayoral spokeswoman Olivia Lapeyrolerie told the NY Post.

The Meatless Monday program is being piloted in 15 Brooklyn schools and was announced in October 2017.