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Everyone should have access to nutritious foods, but it’s tough for those living in food deserts to eat healthfully.
California spends millions of tax dollars each year subsidizing the unhealthy meat, egg, and dairy industries. Chicken company Foster Farms, for example, has received millions of dollars in state and local subsidies to expand products in recent years. That money could go toward making healthy foods available in food deserts instead, which is crucial for the health of California residents. Nearly 1 million Californians live with no access to nearby supermarkets or large grocery stores. Additionally, about 8 million of the state’s residents struggle with food insecurity—meaning that they have uncertain access to enough healthy foods to eat.
Leading health experts agree that eating vegan is the single best thing that we can do to promote our own well-being and that of our families. Decades of scientific studies have repeatedly proved that choosing vegetables, grains, beans, fruits, nuts, and other plant-based foods over meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and dairy helps support a lifetime of good health. Eating vegan decreases blood pressure, eliminates cholesterol intake, and helps provide protection against numerous diseases and conditions or slows the progression of their symptoms, including some of our country’s leading causes of death: heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and strokes. Eating vegan also helps reduce the number of animals who suffer terribly in the meat, egg, and dairy industries.
Join PETA in advocating for food justice. If you live in California, please urge your legislators to act to redirect funds that prop up the cruel, environmentally destructive, and unhealthy meat, egg, and dairy industries to provide grocers in food deserts with incentives to stock vegetables, fruits, and other healthy vegan foods.