Coalition Urges U.S. VP-Elect Kamala Harris to Adopt A Plant-Based Diet For 31-Days

Kamala Harris, the first woman of colour set to become the Vice President of the United States, has been urged by the JIVINITI Women’s Coalition to follow the Million Dollar Vegan 31-day challenge in January 2021 to highlight the importance of changing the country’s eating habits to prevent future pandemics, and to address the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 and climate change on lower income communities.

The Coalition, led by The Virsa Foundation, issued a petition along with an open letter demanding the upcoming administration to encourage a plant-based diet while simultaneously moving away from industrialized animal agriculture, focusing more on vaccine research without animal testing, and introducing a Pandemic Nutrition Guidance with a whole-foods plant-based lifestyle. The letter also presented statistics showing how Covid-19 has impacted marginalized communities in the US, especially women, and the steps the administration can take to avoid future pandemics.

During a CNN Town Hall event amid her presidential campaign in 2019, Harris expressed her view on a plant-based diet with “I love cheeseburgers from time to time, I just do. But [we must also consider] what we do in terms of creating incentives that we will eat in a healthy way, that we will encourage moderation, and that we will be educated about the effect of our eating habits on our environment. We have to do a much better job with that and the government has to do a much better job with that.”

Around Thanksgiving 2020, the to-be VP posted a recipe with meat on her social media which led to thousands of comments requesting her to use vegan alternatives and promote plant-based eating to acknowledge animal cruelty and climate change. 

“Kamala, you are a role model for millions of people, especially women and women of color. Your position on healthy eating is one of the most powerful ways you can drive a fundamental transformation in the way America produces, processes and eats food,” the petition addressed.

You can sign the petition here.

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