Diet
for a Healthy Planet
There’s
usually a lot of noise about how to improve
ourselves around the start of the new year, and
for better or for worse, much of it has to do
with our bodies. Resolutions around exercise,
physical well-being, and healthy eating are
common, as are advertisements hawking offers to
purportedly help the newly resolved meet their
goals.
Every
five years, around the same time of year, the
federal government releases updated dietary
guidelines for Americans. These updates are
meant to align the guidance with the latest
dietary research. And in most cases, the new
iteration, released by the US Department of
Agriculture and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s
Department of Health and Human Services earlier
this week, does just that. It recommends
reducing consumption of sugar, for example,
eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, and
prioritizing “whole foods.” But, there’s one
glaring exception — the promotion of red
meat.
Nutrition
and public health experts were quick to call
attention to the change and its misalignment
with the science. After all, the research on red
meat and health is pretty clear: It doesn’t do
us many favors, particularly when it comes to
saturated fats.
It’s
hard not to wonder about corporate influence
here, particularly given that more than half of the nine
authors have ties to the cattle and dairy
industries. (A group of physicians have already
filed a petition with the
federal government calling for the guidelines to
be revised due to inappropriate industry
influence.)
I
also can’t help but worry about the toll the
guidelines could have on the climate, just as
the United States pulls out of the global
climate treaty (to which every other country in
the world is a member). Red meat has, by far,
the highest carbon footprint of any food we eat,
followed by dairy (which, too, is emphasized in
the new guidelines). Even if the average
American isn’t fastidiously consulting federal
advice when making choices around their eating
habits, the guidelines inform the national
school lunch program, military meals, and other
federal nutrition programs that cumulatively
feed tens of millions of people.
There
is enough research out there showing that a diet
heavier in plant-based fats and proteins and
lower in animal products — especially red meat —
tends to be better for both our bodies and
the planet. For those of us who can choose what
to put on our plates, that’s probably the best
guideline to stick
with. |
