In their new report to the federal government, the nation’s foremost nutrition experts — a panel of scientists appointed by the Obama administration to help advise the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans — have shaped a much brighter future for public health in America and made a great leap toward addressing our country’s chronic disease epidemic as well as its environmental woes.
How did they do this? Essentially by telling America to get meat and other animal products off our plates. “A dietary pattern that is higher in plant-based foods, such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, and lower in animal-based foods is more health promoting and is associated with lesser environmental impact than is the current average U.S. diet,” the report says.
At first glance, this advice may not seem so innovative. Our doctors and grandmas have been telling us to eat our veggies for decades. Scientists have warned of animal agriculture’s massive contribution to a warming, polluted planet for nearly as long. But this report marks the first time the advisory panel has specifically urged cutting back on meat to avert both public health and environmental crises.
This recommendation — at least the health part — would have come sooner were it not for the agribusiness industry’s heavy influence on federal nutrition policy. Big Ag has thrown its full heft against plant-promoting guidelines in the past — successfully convincing the very first dietary advisory panel in 1977 to withdraw its initial recommendations to reduce meat intake. Meat has been a staple in the guidelines — and, as a result, the American diet — ever since, despite substantial scientific evidence that connects meat consumption to obesity, heart disease, diabetes and certain types of cancer. Indeed, meat consumption has risen dramatically since that initial report, despite a mountain of studies linking plant-based diets to far lower rates of these illnesses and many others.
But no more. The 2015 report knocks meat off the list of recommended foods and singles out vegetarian diets as one of the healthiest eating patterns. Although much improved, the new report does have some flaws. It continues to promote dairy products and seafood, which have also been strongly linked to chronic disease and environmental devastation. The main message, however, is clear: It’s time to kick our addiction to meat, because it’s killing us — and our planet.
These guidelines represent a triumph of sound science over narrow corporate interests — a monumental feat in itself. More importantly, if they are implemented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, these recommendations could set off a cascade of policy changes that would reverse the upward trend of chronic disease rates, ushering America into a new era of better health and a cleaner environment.
Imagine school lunch lines overflowing with delicious, healthful meals such as vegetable chili, garden veggie burgers, black bean burritos and colorful salads instead of greasy pizza, mystery meat nuggets, hot dogs and cheeseburgers. Think of children no longer burdened by obesity and Type 2 diabetes, free to live longer, healthier lives. Picture our nation’s armed forces feasting on hearty, fiber-packed, meatless dishes that help them ward off chronic diseases like obesity — currently the number one cause of military discharge. Imagine those who have fallen on hard times avoiding high health care bills and finding it easier to purchase nutritious foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans thanks to a revamped food stamp program. And picture more empty hospital beds — devoid of people suffering from heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer and dementia and the many complications of these illnesses.
Finally, envision America’s beautiful lakes, rivers and oceans less polluted from factory farm runoff; our landscapes replenished with native animals and plants no longer exterminated because they compete with livestock or feed crops; and newly verdant wild lands and forests, relieved of the pressures of resource-intensive animal agriculture.
This could be our future. Federal dietary guidelines that recognize the lifesaving potential of plant-based foods would empower policymakers and ordinary citizens to tackle so many of our country’s biggest problems, from its leading killer, heart disease, to the collapse of ecosystems across the continent — both of which are overwhelmingly linked to the meat-heavy standard American diet.
As a registered dietitian, I applaud the advisory committee for telling Americans what I’ve been telling my patients for years: Plant-based diets are the key to good health and a happier planet.
Julieanna Hever, MS, RD, CPT, also known as The Plant-Based Dietitian and host of the television show “What Would Julieanna Do?,” is a bestselling author, speaker, health and fitness expert, and lifestyle coach.
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Plant-Based Dietary Guidelines Herald Healthier, Sustainable Future originally appeared on usnews.com
