USDA preps new dietary guidelines: Big changes to come?
Should the environmental impact of a food source be factored into the US Department of Agriculture鈥檚 dietary guidelines?
The answer is no 鈥� for now.
鈥淲e will remain within the scope of our mandate ... which is to provide nutritional and dietary information,鈥� writes USDA鈥檚 Secretary Tom Vilsack and Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell Tuesday. 鈥淲e do not believe that the 2015 DGA (Dietary Guidelines for Americans) are the appropriate vehicle for this important policy conversation about sustainability.鈥�
Instead of recommending a diet strictly based on nutritional value, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee had recommended in February that environmental sustainability should be a factor, therefore, Americans eat less meat and more plants. The response has been controversial to say the least.聽
The DGA guidelines, used by Americans for nutritional educations, are reviewed every five years. Just five years ago, the proposed guidelines received around 2,000 public comments. In comparison, the report this year received .
The discussion of sustainable diets surrounds meat production because the process contributes to methane emissions, a contributor to climate change. The meat industry also requires significant amounts of land and water.
鈥淚f you compare 10 pounds of apples and 10 pounds of meat, the meat surely has the larger carbon footprint, but it also delivers more nutrition, it nourishes more people longer,鈥� Janet Riley of the North American Meat Institute .
The Institute鈥檚 president and chief executive officer, Barry Carpenter,聽 that he agrees sustainability is 鈥渁n important food issue,鈥� but he supports the secretaries鈥� decision as the topic is 鈥渙utside of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee鈥檚 scope and expertise.鈥�
But meat isn鈥檛 the only item requiring disproportionate resources.
鈥淚t takes up to 2.8 liters of water to produce a single 鈥榟eart-healthy鈥� almond,鈥� Dr. Kathleen Merrigan, former deputy secretary of the USDA . 鈥淲ith 80 percent of the world鈥檚 almonds growing in drought-stricken California, should consumers be advised to limit almond consumption and consider alternatives that consume fewer resources?鈥�
Dr. Merrigan and her co-authors agree with many other advocacy groups such as Friends of the Earth and Food Democracy Now that suggest dietary guidelines should include a reference to sustainability.聽
鈥淏y acknowledging benefits of sustainability,鈥� Merrigan writes, 鈥渢he government would open itself up to greater demand for sustainability investments and would signal to consumers that such foods are preferred.鈥�
that although the 2015 guidelines have yet to be finalized, 鈥渨e know they will be similar in many key respects to those of past years,鈥� so meat will remain a part of 鈥渢he building blocks of a healthy lifestyle.鈥澛�
