kids eating hotdogs
© Air Force Medical Service
While most children love hot dogs and bologna sandwiches, they won't be getting them if they attend public schools in New York City, Tree Hugger reports:
New York City council is taking students' health seriously. Earlier this year, mayor Bill de Blasio announced the introduction of Meatless Mondays, when all meals served in 1,700 schools would be vegetarian in an effort to improve nutrition and curb emissions. Now, the city has gone one step further and passed a law banning processed meats from schools, although the start date has yet to be determined.
The reason for the ban is simple: The overall health of kids, as processed meats are known to cause cancer and other diseases.


Comment: No, the reason is the irresistible attraction some people have to dictating how others live their lives. Processed meats are not "known to cause cancer and other diseases," despite what this media parrot would have you believe. The studies that provide this "fact" are not designed to show causation (and they're poorly designed on top of that).

See: Warnings about processed meat fail the test of science

A 2015 World Health Organization report ... labeled these products as Group 1 carcinogens, increasing the risk of diabetes, multiple cancers, and respiratory illnesses.

Resolution 238 — which has also been referred to as the "Ban the Baloney" bill — was first introduced last Spring by councilman Fernando Cabrera of the Bronx and supported by Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams, who noted:
We cannot continue feeding our children substances that are scientifically proven to increase their chances of cancer later in life. 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.

Comment: And on it goes, with politicians reiterating the false claim that processed meat is "proven to cause cancer". Processed food is garbage, and chicken nuggets and other processed fare are no different. But when these diet meddlers replace ham, sausage and bacon with Beyond Meat and Impossible Burgers they're doing the opposite of what they're claiming - ruining children's health rather than saving it.


Truth Theory suggests that a diet free of processed meat for schoolchildren will also boost their academic performance because they'll be healthier:
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recently released a paper that asserts that people following a plant-based diet develop health conditions at a slower rate than people who include processed meat in their diet. Thus, the NYC ban on processed meat can be a great step towards ensuring a healthier life for children. Giving children a wholesome nutritional diet will ensure good health. It will also boost their academic performance in the long run.

News of the processed meat ban in New York City schools comes just days after the release of a controversial study which states red meat and processed foods aren't as unhealthy has long been suspected:
The science is being hotly disputed, but as I see it, the outcome doesn't even matter because nutrition is only one part of this debate. We know that meat production is bad for the environment and its consumption must be curbed if we hope to stave off further global warming.

Author Jonathan Safran Foer recently had this to say about eating meat and the impact it has on the environment:
Eating meat is not a sin. It's not an evil thing to do, but right now it has an aspect of shoplifting to it. The [meat] industry is stealing from us and the planet and we're not aware of it. Someone does have to pay for the environmental clean-up of the planet and it's not us at the cash register and it's not them [the meat industry]. It's our grandkids.
The move by New York City is just a small step. But every journey begins that way.