- Stringer 2013 -

Who says vegetarianism is dead? Last week Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer proposed that NY public schools institute a “Meatless Monday” program, by which students would start their week with spinach and green beans, foregoing bacon strips and chicken wings. “The way to get to kids is to raise the flag: ‘Give up meat one day a week. I’m not going to have Burger King or McDonald’s for one day,’” said Stringer, who edited the “Go Green East Harlem Cookbook.” “You’ve got to reach the next generation of New Yorkers early.”

By Bao Ong

Cafeteria offerings on Monday in the city’s public schools included turkey-bacon strips, hamburger patties and teriyaki chicken. But if a national effort being pushed locally by Scott M. Stringer, the Manhattan borough president, gains traction here, students may find themselves starting the week with more garbanzo beans, green peas and eggplant.

BY SONDRA WOLFER  

The city should amend its PlaNYC program to include a massive overhaul of the way it deals with food, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer said Wednesday.

He released a report with proposals that, if adopted, would prioritize food coming from regional growers, encourage the creation of farmer's markets, motivate people to plant gardens and even redevelop the Hunts Point Produce Market.

By Daniel Massey

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer unveiled a package of proposals Thursday to make the city's food-delivery network what he calls “more sustainable,” by prioritizing locally produced products and increasing access to healthy foods, among other measures.

Scott Stringer and Melissa Mark Viverito

A few years ago, a Manhattan borough president community initiative called “Go Green” was launched in East Harlem with the help of local Council Member Melissa Mark Viverito. The goal was to engage New York’s dynamic communities in the effort to bring farmers’ markets, greenspace and cleaner air back to our city neighborhoods, and to reduce the impact of environmentally driven diseases, like asthma and obesity.

Go Green was about the sustainability of our neighborhoods, but as the project continued, eventually spreading as far north as Washington Heights and Inwood, and south to the Lower East Side, we realized that the sustainability of New York goes hand-in-hand with the sustainability—i.e., the health—of New Yorkers.

We came to understand that yes, there is a link between the dinner table and the doctor’s office, and that a movement for a healthier New York starts with better access to fresh, healthy food for everyone in our city. The politics of food must become a priority, not just for New York, but for cities across the world.

If climate change and population growth progress at their current pace, in roughly 50 years farming as we know it will no longer exist. This means that the majority of people could soon be without enough food or water. But there is a solution that is surprisingly within reach: Move most farming into cities, and grow crops in tall, specially constructed buildings. It’s called vertical farming.