Photos courtesy of Plant Powered Metro New York

Plant Powered Metro New York is a non-profit organization designed to inspire others to start their own health journeys through whole food, plant based eating. They make what may seem like a daunting task full of ease with the personalized programs and mentorships, endless delicious recipes, and informative cooking demos they offer. Aiming to bring healthy eating habits to everyone, Plant Powered Metro New York partners with organizations like Mexican Coalition and offer a version of their Jumpstart program in Spanish. To learn more about Plant Powered Metro New York and how you can start building your own healthy eating habits, read on.

Where are you based?
Manhattan

Can you tell us about your organization and what inspired you to start it?
Plant Powered Metro New York (PPMNY) is a nonprofit organization that empowers people to take control of their health through whole food, plant-based nutrition. This is an evidence-based way of eating that can not only prevent chronic disease in the first place but also treat and reverse many common health conditions and symptoms. We often take poor health for granted as inevitable, or as an unfortunate circumstance of our genes, but it doesn’t have to be this way. PPMNY focuses on the importance of not only reducing our consumption of processed foods but also abstaining from animal foods, while simultaneously maximizing our intake of nutrient-dense plant foods: whole grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds.

We launched the organization in 2019 when several grassroots groups around NYC and Long Island came together with a shared vision: to work collaboratively to bring plant-based nutrition into mainstream awareness across our diverse communities. Our co-founders had firsthand experience using food to transform our health. For me, it was rebounding from endometriosis, and for others it was healing from conditions like colitis and hypertension, and the natural weight loss that comes along with this lifestyle. We knew the message needed a broader platform and a way for people from diverse backgrounds to not only hear it but also get support to make and sustain behavior change.

What are the main goals of your organization?
PPMNY aims to dramatically improve public health by helping people learn the power of whole food, plant-based nutrition and put it into action. We believe it’s everyone’s right to know that we have the power to change our health trajectory through what we eat. While PPMNY offers some programming directly to the public, many of our programs are offered in partnership with community and healthcare organizations, so we can more effectively reach people in the trusted spaces they already convene. We like to say that we’re building an ecosystem of activities to meet people wherever they are on their journey to health:

We’re raising awareness of the life-changing benefits of plant-based nutrition.
We’re presenting evidence-based and culturally-relevant nutrition education, meal prep guidance, lifestyle skill-building, and intensive dietary change programs.
We’re building supportive peer communities that make lifestyle change sustainable.
We’re addressing health disparities head-on by working with communities most impacted by chronic disease, alongside those with greater privilege.

How does your organization differ from other health organizations?
Many public health organizations focus on strategies to screen people for diseases for early detection, or to ensure that people are managing their diseases appropriately so that they can preserve function and quality-of-life for as long as possible. While we all talk about the importance of disease prevention, the wider narrative still assumes that we’re destined to have a diagnosis. The idea that we can achieve true prevention is nearly absent. PPMNY is all about primary prevention, using a much more nuanced and evidence-based approach to “healthy eating” which can otherwise seem vague. It’s more than just eating more fruits and vegetables. It’s making whole plant foods the star of the plate in as many meals as possible. And if we have a chronic disease, we can also intervene — stopping or even reversing it using whole-plant-foods-as-medicine. We give people the honest truth about what will bring about thriving and show them how to get there. We regularly bear witness to someone getting off of medications, regaining mobility, healing from chronic pain, restoring vision, or breathing easier than ever after a life with asthma. These are the very achievable improvements we see when we share the full story of nutrition’s power and ignite their passion to pursue health.

We also don’t operate as a traditional health services organization. Instead of offering one-on-one nutrition counseling, we work predominantly in groups or communities, recognizing that behavior change is easier when we have friends and partners along for the ride.

And we’re community-driven rather than expert-led. We build grassroots leadership for health by training and supporting people who have already embraced whole food, plant-based nutrition to share their lived experiences with others. Our network of educators and volunteers allows us to fan out and do so many things each year, even as a small and newer organization. These change agents are modeling this lifestyle while bringing their skills and talents to engage the community through countless activities.

What are some benefits plant-based eating has globally that people may not realize?

Beyond the health benefits people experience, there are much larger impacts when we collectively choose to eat plants over animals. This lifestyle reduces healthcare costs, doctor visits, and absenteeism at work. Eating plants instead of animals also decreases demand for industrialized meat production which helps to preserve our environment. We can conserve so much land and water while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions that are unnaturally high in part due to animal agriculture. Feeding the animals we raise to feed us uses so many resources unnecessarily: their feed and water could grow that many more plant foods to directly nourish millions more people who would otherwise be hungry. We also show compassion for animals when we choose a plant-based diet, refraining from the ethically-fraught practice of killing them for food, using their bodies as commodities (even for dairy and eggs), and asking low-wage workers to cause their suffering on our behalf. Eating plants instead of animals offers many people greater spiritual alignment, as we align our actions with our values. The global benefits of dietary change are enormous and too often unspoken.

Can you tell us a little bit about your Jumpstart program? What does it entail and how does it go about helping those who join?

Our 21-Day Plant Powered Jumpstart is a guided virtual experience that helps people dive deep into a whole food, plant-based lifestyle. Participants attend weekly classes live online, learn meal prep skills, and receive mentorship from peers who’ve walked the path themselves. Within three weeks, people often see measurable improvements in weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar — and, most importantly, they gain the confidence and community for long-term change. We offer Jumpstarts a few times per year in a cohort and invite anyone interested in living more vibrantly to join us.

Plant Powered Metro New York also offers a Lifestyle Mentorship program. How does this program work? How have you seen it benefit those who join?

Our Lifestyle Mentorship program connects newcomers with trained volunteer mentors who offer encouragement, answer questions, and share practical tips. It’s a human connection that makes the difference between “I tried this once” and “This has become my lifestyle.” Many participants say their mentor’s support was invaluable. We offer mentorship in the Jumpstart programs in small groups, as well as peer-to-peer mentorship any time during the year for people who live in the NY metro area.

Other than your Jumpstart and Lifestyle Mentorship programs, what kind of resources do you offer?

We host cooking demos, community workshops and seminars, presentations and panels with healthcare professionals and other subject-matter experts, lifestyle support circles, and employee wellness programs. We work online and in-person, taking our programming to spaces across the region where our partner organizations are based. We also share curated recipes, recorded interviews, and research insights through our website, YouTube channel, and newsletters.

You have partnered with a few other organizations, including Mexican Coalition, and offer readily available resources and translations for Spanish speakers. Why is having easily accessible resources in Spanish so important to you and your organization?

While plant-based health resources and initiatives in Spanish have been steadily expanding over the years, the community of Spanish speakers in our region is large and still mostly in the dark about eating plants. It’s important to not only translate the ideas of our movement but also to offer them in culturally-relevant ways. We have been offering a Spanish version of the Jumpstart program, now called Reto Salud a Base de Plantas (Plant-Based Health Challenge), since our early years, and we regularly work with trusted Hispanic organizations to ensure that Spanish-speaking communities can access the same life-changing knowledge, recipes, and support. I’m really proud that these efforts have been led by a very passionate group of our volunteers and educators who come from diverse parts of Latin America.

What are some ways people who are on a tight budget or schedule can start to change their habits?
We often teach about the idea of healthy swaps. For example, if you can make a dish that would otherwise have meat or chicken and instead use beans, you’re on your way. Dry beans in particular are really inexpensive, and they don’t have excess added salt like what you’d find in a can. We can use the same herbs and spices we would normally use in those dishes, but with plant foods featured. Another simple starting place is to replace refined grains with whole grains: shifting from white flour to whole wheat flour, white pasta to whole wheat pasta, or white rice to brown rice. A third strategy is to fall in love with sweet potatoes. They are hearty, delicious, easy to prepare (no brown sugar needed!), and often inexpensive. They are highly underrated in the American food system.

And while you might think of buying packaged vegan meat and dairy products to replace animal foods, there’s no need to spend extra money on these. They are often highly processed and are no better for our health than the animal foods they’re replacing, even though they’re better for animals and the environment.

You have a list of recipes on your site, any favorites?
One of the recipes I contributed to our website — which features community-created recipes — is a lentil bolognese sauce. It can be eaten on top of pasta or rice or on its own. I grew up loving my mom’s homemade meat sauce, even though I didn’t eat meat that often. This is a great replacement and can be seasoned in countless ways. Another favorite is a frozen treat we make for our kids, affectionately named “brown” by my youngest daughter when she was little. These chocolate banana bites are sugar-free, offer healthy calories for kids, and satisfy the adults’ sweet tooth. We always keep it stocked in our freezer, even in the winter.

What are some ways in which our readers can get involved with your organization?
We’re here to help everyone enjoy eating plants, even if it seems daunting now or if you harbor some skepticism. We invite anyone interested to join one of our upcoming programs in-person or tune into one of our livestream events. You can also talk to us about bringing this kind of education to an organization you’re a part of — whether it’s a workplace, a faith-based community, or a civic group. Simply sharing our resources with friends and family is a powerful way to spread change; maybe you know someone struggling with a chronic disease or mystery symptoms and think they could benefit from PPMNY’s support.

If you’re familiar with this lifestyle already, get in touch with us about volunteering by joining our grassroots network, and of course donations also help us bring education into communities with a greater burden of disease.

Are there any upcoming projects/events you are currently working on that we should be on the lookout for?
We’re continuing our Jumpstart programs this fall and into the new year. They are open to anyone across the hemisphere (literally!), and it’s a great opportunity to see how plant-based nutrition can work swiftly to offer relief, healing, and a major boost to mood and energy. In November, we’ll also be running a new initiative, the Bronx Diabetes Breakthrough, for Diabetes Awareness Month. It’s a full-day program that dives deep into how plant-based nutrition can prevent and heal type 2 diabetes. We’ll be offering it on the northwest and east sides of the Bronx with different community partners.

Why is it important to have a community for vegans?
Lifestyle change can be difficult to sustain alone, especially in our current food environment. While this way of eating is countercultural, it becomes so intuitive and beloved by those of us who have made it a cornerstone of our practice. Yet many of us live with other people who may want to keep things status quo, or we have friend groups who come together over food without much regard for health. The hurdles can be high. Having a community that makes healthy eating a priority provides encouragement, accountability, and joy. It turns the idea of “a diet” into “a way of life.”

It has been a crazy few years, and we expect at least four more. How have you been staying positive?
We stay rooted in hope by watching transformation happen. Supporting someone to reverse disease, lower their blood pressure, taste and enjoy new foods, overcome cravings, or simply feel more alive reminds us why this work matters. I love hearing people share that their relationship with food has changed for the better. We receive constant confirmation that change is possible, and we are the lucky ones who help to instigate it. This is the kind of good news we should be reading about every day!

What is your motto in life?
My husband and I often joke about how important it is to “use the right tool for the job” — in anything we do. It’s really relevant when you’re talking about stocking your kitchen with the proper tools, or even just putting the right fuel into our bodies so they can run properly for a lifetime.

To learn more about Plant Powered Metro New York, please check out the links below:
Website: plantpoweredmetrony.org
Instagram: @PlantPoweredMetroNY
Facebook: @PlantPoweredMNY
YouTube: Plant Powered Metro New York

Plant Powered Metro New York Makes Plant Based Eating Easy