US Tennis Association Joins Plant-Powered Carbon Challenge

The US Tennis Association (USTA) has become the first major athletic organization to join Mayor Eric Adams’ program to reduce carbon emissions by serving more plant-based food at competitions.

The US Open, run by the USTA, will now serve more plant-based food to spectators. It aims to slash its food emissions by 25 percent by 2030. Neeti Jain, Strategic Partnerships Advisor from the Mayor’s Office of Food Policy, told Plant Based News that the USTA “will first set a baseline year, and from there, will be able to calculate the carbon savings through 2030. Accordingly, they will determine how much of the menu will be plant-based in the future and how that will compare to the existing menu.”

There are multiple places to eat and drink at the US Open, hosted at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, New York. Nearly a million people attended the 2023 US Open over the course of the tournament. The 2024 tournament began on August 19 with the qualifying matches. It will conclude on September 8 with the Men’s Final.

Plant-Powered Challenge

PCN Photography / Alamy Stock Photo The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center serves food to thousands of spectators

New York’s Mayor Adams launched the Plant-Powered Carbon Challenge in October 2023. Businesses and organizations in NYC can voluntarily join to reduce their food-related carbon emissions.

The program names red meat and dairy as “the primary source of greenhouse gas emissions in household food consumption.” It says New Yorkers can help to “significantly” cut the city’s emissions by eating plant-based whole foods. The Challenge launch came a year after NYC’s public hospitals made plant-based food the default for patients. In 2022, NYC’s public schools also rolled out Plant-Powered Fridays.

Signatories to the Plant-Powered Carbon Challenge are expected to develop an action plan, track their carbon emissions, and submit annual progress reports.