Hospitals, Policy

The fight for red meat: Dietary guidelines factoring in environmental concerns continues to get push back

The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee concluded on Feb. 19 that a plant-focused diet that’s lower […]

The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee concluded on Feb. 19 that a plant-focused diet that’s lower in red meat not only promotes good health, but it is also more environmentally sustainable.

Some politicians and those in the meat industry strongly disagree with these standards, though. So how will the Obama administration appointees at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Health and Human Services move forward with guidelines amidst clear disagreement on standards?

Republican Rep. Robert Aderholt of Alabama, who’s chairman of a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee that handles agriculture, is pushing toward keeping the regulations strictly on nutrition and not involving environmental concerns, but he doesn’t seem to believe Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack fully represents the effort.

In an email, Aderholt told NPR how he feels about the communication with Vilsack: “I appreciate the Secretary’s comments indicating that he knows he needs to stick to the statutory directive but in the past this administration has shown instances that it will advance their political agenda where possible.”

The issue of environmental sustainability within dietary guidelines is extremely important for many people, so this isn’t going to slide by without some push back.

As NPR reported:

In a letter to the secretaries, a coalition representing health, environmental and animal welfare interests — including the American Public Health Association, Yale University Prevention Research Center, George Washington University Cancer Institute and the Animal Legal Defense Fund — urge that the committee’s recommendations on lower meat consumption and more sustainable production be written into the final guidelines.

“If Secretary Vilsack ignores the sustainability recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee after their months-long deliberation, he will once again side with the powerful economic interests of the industrial meat companies and not with the health and well-being of all Americans,” says Bob Martin of the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, which also signed the letter.

A new petition on Change.org is also pushing for regulations that support lower-meat consumption.

In response to some of the feedback, the meat industry is trying to buy more time by requesting that the public comment period on the dietary guideline recommendations be extended.

“To provide a thorough and meaningful review and comment, which has been encouraged by the agencies, a 120-day comment period is appropriate,”wrote North American Meat Institute’s Betsy Booren in a statement, contesting the 45-day review.

We’ll see where or if a middle ground can be established.

[Photo from Flickr user Taryn]

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