Amid Soaring Crime Rate, NYC Mayor Urges Residents To Eat Plant Based Diet, Compares Cheese To Heroin

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is on a mission to push a plant-based diet on New Yorkers, he said at a Monday press conference.

“Food is like a drug. You take someone on heroin, put them in one room, and someone hooked on cheese, put [them] in another room, and you take it away, I challenge you to tell me the person who’s hooked on heroin and who’s hooked on cheese,” Adams said, according to Newsweek.

“I eat a plant based centered life,” Adams said five times in one response during the conference.

“Don’t worry about what’s on Mayor Adams’ plate. Put these items on your plate,” he said.

“The more plant based meals you have, the healthier you are going to be,” the mayor said, according to a conference transcript. “I’m living a healthier lifestyle and I’m encouraging New Yorkers to have as many plant based meals as possible, because the science is clear. The more you eat plants, the more you eat fruits, the more you have a healthy lifestyle away from over processed food, the healthier you are going to be.”

New York City Public Schools instituted vegan Fridays in school cafeterias on Thursday, explaining that “plant-based options in schools means healthy eating and healthy living, and improving the quality of life for thousands of NYC students.”

The crime rate in New York City soared in 2020 and 2021, with shootings surging 97% in 2020 and continuing to increase at a more modest rate in 2021.