原文：https://plantbasednews.org/culture/wierd-wonderful/nyc-public-schools-vegan-fridays/
注：译文谨供参考。

Over 1,700 NYC Public Schools To Launch ‘Vegan Fridays’ To Improve Public Health
纽约市1700多家公立学校推行“纯素星期五”以改善公共卫生

NYC mayor Eric Adams said the school system’s current menu is ‘feeding the healthcare crisis’
纽约市长埃里克·亚当斯（Eric Adams）表示，学校系统的原有菜单“助长医疗保健危机”

by Jemima Webber
作者：Jemima Webber

7th February 2022
2022年2月7日

A new initiative called Vegan Fridays is rolling out across New York City’s public school system, which is the largest in the country. The program will see K-12 students eating plant-based meals one day a week.
纽约市的公立学校系统是美国最大的学区，正在推广一项名为“纯素星期五”（Vegan Fridays）的新计划，让幼儿园至12年级（K-12）学生每周有一天实行植物性饮食。

Newly elected NYC mayor, Eric Adams, stresses that the policy will improve the health and “quality of life” of students in the city. There’s an estimated more than 1.1 million students in over 1,700 public schools across NYC.
新上任的纽约市长埃里克·亚当斯强调，该政策将改善本市学生的健康和“生活质量”。据估计，整个纽约市的1700多家公立学校总共拥有超过110万名学生。

“In one voice, we talk about fighting childhood obesity, diabetes yet you go into a school building every day and you see the food that feeds our healthcare crisis,” Adams said in January.
亚当斯在一月份曾说：“我们都异口同声地谈论对付儿童肥胖症、糖尿病，然而你每天走进学校大楼，都可以看到助长我们医疗保健危机的食品。”

“The children have been calling me and saying they want better food in schools, and I’m going to do the best I can to give them the options of a more healthier diet so we can stop feeding the crisis,” he added.
他补充说：“孩子们一直在给我打电话，说他们想在学校吃到更好的食物。我要尽我所能为他们提供更加健康的饮食选择，这样我们才能够停止助长危机。”

Adams won the mayoral vote in November, and became the city’s second Black and first vegan mayor in doing so. The politician first picked up a plant-based diet in 2016, and credits it for reversing his diabetes diagnosis.
亚当斯在去年11月赢得了市长选举，由此成为纽约市的第二位黑人市长，同时也是首位纯素市长。这名政治家早在2016年就采纳了植物性饮食，并宣称这种饮食方式逆转了他的糖尿病症状。

Adams spoke about the school meal plan on Fox 5’s Good Day New York last week. He explained: “I love healthy food, and I love life, and our children should not continually be fed food that’s causing their healthcare crises: childhood obesity, childhood diabetes, asthma … We should not be feeding the crises.”
上周参加福克斯5频道的《Good Day New York》节目时，亚当斯谈到了校餐计划。他解释说：“我喜欢健康食品，我热爱生活。不应该继续给我们的孩子提供造成医疗保健危机的食品，例如：儿童肥胖症、儿童糖尿病、哮喘病……我们不应该助长这些危机。”

A growing number of studies have highlighted the link between plant-based diets and a lowered risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.
越来越多的研究突出表明了植物性饮食有助于降低心脏病、2型糖尿病和癌症的风险。

In contrast, researchers are finding that meat – especially processed and red meat – could increase the risk of such diseases. For instance, in 2015, the World Health Organization classed processed meat – such as bacon, pepperoni, and hot dogs – as a Group 1 carcinogen. Asbestos, tobacco smoking, and plutonium, among others, are also in this category.
相比之下，研究人员发现（食用）肉类──特别是加工肉制品和红肉──能够增加这些疾病的风险。例如，在2015年，世界卫生组织（WHO）将加工肉制品归类为一级致癌物（Group 1 carcinogen），其中包括培根（bacon）、意大利辣香肠（pepperoni）、热狗（hot dog）等。石棉、吸烟（香烟）、钚等也属于这一类的致癌物。

Meat-free days at public schools
公立学校的“无肉日”

Health concerns spurred on a similar plant-forward approach in 2019, when the NYC’s Department of Education introduced Meatless Mondays at all public schools in the city. And in April 2021, Meatless Fridays joined the rotation too.
2019年，由于健康问题促成了植物导向（plant-forward）方法的采纳，纽约市教育局（DOE）在本市所有公立学校开始实施“无肉星期一”（Meatless Mondays）饮食计划。到了2021年4月，学校的轮换菜单进一步增加了“无肉星期五”（Meatless Fridays）。

“Our children are weighing in — they’re doing food testing, they’re determining the type of food they want that’s healthy,” Adams continued. “And you know what? They asked for this. They are tired of the food they are being fed in their schools, and they want healthy options.”
“我们的孩子（学生们）也参与其中──他们尝试食品，并确定他们想要的健康食品类型，”亚当斯继续说。“你知道吗？是他们提出这个要求的。他们厌烦了学校给他们提供的食品，他们想要健康的食品选择。”

The school meal guidelines impact more than children’s health, the mayor noted. “We have to do a better job in the food that we serve and we have to move away from our fixation on the products that are also destroying our environment,” Adams explained. “That is often not talked about. We talk about fossil fuel, we talk about ‘we need electric vehicles.’ No one is talking about the plate.”
这位市长指出，学校饮食准则不止影响儿童的健康。“我们要改进我们的食品供应工作，我们必须摒弃对那些破坏我们环境的（动物）产品的痴迷，”亚当斯解释说。“这一点经常都没有被谈论到。我们谈论化石燃料，我们谈论‘我们需要电动汽车’。却没有人谈论餐盘（食品）。”

“The plate is not only destroying mother nature, it is destroying our mothers and our children as well.”
“餐盘（里的动物产品）不仅在摧毁大自然母亲（mother nature），而且也在摧毁我们的母亲和我们的孩子。”

Putting kids’ health first
把儿童的健康放在首位

Non-vegan options (peanut butter and jelly sandwiches) will be available on request under the new policy. Additionally, schools will still offer animal milk with every meal as per the current guidelines.
根据新政策，应要求可提供非纯素食品（花生酱果酱三明治）。此外，学校还会按照原来准则每餐向学生提供动物奶。

Last week, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) updated the country’s school nutrition standards – specifically, its milk, sodium, and whole grain recommendations.
美国农业部（USDA）于上周更新了全国学校的营养标准──具体而言，就是有关牛奶、钠和全谷物的建议。

The federal agency stated that schools and childcare providers can only offer low-fat or non-fat cow’s milk.
这个联邦部门规定学校和保育机构只能（向儿童）提供低脂或脱脂牛奶。

It’s part of the government’s aim to “put children’s health at the forefront,” the organization says.
该部门表示，政府设定营养标准是为了“将儿童健康摆在最前面”。

This is doubly important given that students consume their healthiest meals at school, according to agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack.
此举尤为重要。据美国农业部长汤姆·维尔萨克（Tom Vilsack）介绍，校餐是学生们享受到的最健康饮食。

“Nutritious school meals give America’s children the foundation for successful, healthy lives,” Vilsack said in a statement. “We applaud schools’ heroic efforts throughout the challenges of this pandemic to continue serving kids the most nutritious meals possible.”
“营养校餐为美国儿童健康成功的生活奠定基础，”维尔萨克在一份声明中说道。“我们赞扬学校开展艰苦卓绝的工作，克服疫情挑战继续尽可能为孩子们提供最有营养的餐食。”