Eric Adams Becomes New York City’s First Vegan Mayor
The former police officer is also the second Black person to be elected New York mayor.
New York City will soon have its first vegan mayor as Eric Adams makes history with Tuesday’s election win. The plant-based Democrat and former police officer, defeated Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, with a 66 percent lead. Throughout the campaign, Adams pledged public safety following the COVID-19 crisis.
From January 2022, Adams will take charge of the largest city in the United States. He becomes only the second Black person to be elected New York mayor.
“Tonight is not just a victory over adversity, it is a vindication of faith. It is the proof that the forgotten can be the future,” he told supporters at a celebration event.
Adams announced his bid to become the mayor of New York City last year, with health injustice one of the key pillars of his 2021 campaign. At the time, he said: “We need action and we need it now. The promise of New York has always been that any New Yorker can be who they were meant to be”.
Adams previously served 22 years in the New York City Police Department, and founded the organization 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care to stand against racial profiling and fight for criminal justice reform.
Plant-Based Advocate
Eric Adams went vegan after realizing his diet was negatively affecting his health. This move helped Adams to cure his own type-2 diabetes and partial blindness. Since then, he has become a national leader on public health policy and hopes to help others make the connection between their diets and preventable chronic illnesses.
In particular, he wants to encourage people of color to advocate for themselves and improve their health. Adams described diabetes in the African-American community as “one of the most stubborn health problems” in the U.S., adding that “African-Americans are heavier and sicker than any other group in America, but that doesn’t have to be the case”.
As Brooklyn Borough President, Adams worked to implement plant-based diets and nutrition in hospitals, schools, prisons, and communities all over New York City. He banned processed meat from schools in 2019 and worked with former NYC mayor Bill de Blasio to introduce Meatless Mondays at 15 Brooklyn-based schools. On top of that, 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.
Now, as New York City’s mayor, he’s hopeful that he can take his policies to even bigger platforms.
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