São Paulo State Penitentiary System has become the first penitentiary system in Brazil to serve exclusively meat-free meals one day a week in its correctional facilities. The institution’s adoption of this program follows discussions with Humane Society International, Sociedade Vegetariana Brasileira and State Representative Roberto Tripoli. The new program will be implemented in 48 units of the São Paulo State Penitentiary System,  and serving more than 46,600 meals per week.

Sandra Lopes, food policy manager for HSI Farm Animals in Brazil, stated: “Reducing our meat consumption is one the most effective ways we can help the environment and our health, and we applaud the Secretariat of Penitentiary Administration of the State of São Paulo for joining this initiative. We look forward to continuing to work together to ensure the success of this program, and to working with other institutions on the adoption and implementation of similar programs, including through our workshops and culinary trainings for chefs.”

The São Paulo penitentiary system joins thousands of schools, hospitals, restaurants and consumers in Brazil and around the world that participate in Meatless Monday or similar programs to reduce their environmental impact, improve public health and reduce animal suffering.

HSI promotes humane eating or the 3 R’s: reducing our consumption of animal-based foods, refining our diets by choosing animal products from sources that adhere to higher animal welfare standards and renewing our diets by replacing meat and other animal-based foods with plant-based options.

Facts:

• A growing number of school districts in Brazil are adopting Meatless Monday, including the State of São Paulo and City of Paulicéia school districts.
• We can significantly reduce our environmental footprint by eating more plant-based meals. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, animal agriculture is one of the greatest contributors to the most serious environmental issues, like global warming, and is a major consumer of scarce water resources. For example, in terms of protein, the water footprint is six times bigger for beef, and one and a half times larger for chicken, eggs and milk, than it is for legumes.
• Choosing plant-based foods helps our health. Many of the chronic diseases plaguing the world, including obesity, heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure, can be prevented, treated and, in some cases, even reversed with a healthy plant-based diet.
• Brazil is currently facing an obesity epidemic, with 60 percent of the population obese or overweight, including children. One in three children between the ages of five and nine are obese or overweight.
• Meatless Monday also reduces animal suffering. Tens of millions of animals in food production in Brazil, like egg-laying hens and breeding sows, spend virtually their whole lives confined in small cages where they can’t express natural behaviors. Learn more at hsi.org/meatlessmonday.

Media contact: Sandra Lopes, slopes@hsi.org, 11 9 8145-0764