In a huge victory in the fight for a sustainable food system, the USDA and the department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may finally consider the health of the planet in their dietary guidelines.
If the U.S. government did indeed recommend food that is good for both our health and the environment, the impact would be felt in schools and other government facilities across the country – and across our entire food system.
Tell the USDA and HHS: Protect our health and our planet, not Big Food’s profits.
The fight over the 2015 dietary guidelines is a classic case of industry spin vs. independent science. The guidelines’ advisory committee – an independent panel of experts – is recommending a diet higher in plant-based foods and lower in animal-based foods, for both health and environmental reasons. This would help shift us away from a food system reliant on factory farms and industrial meat production, which have devastating impacts on our soil, water and climate.
An article on NASDAQ.com aimed at investors suggested these guidelines could have a significant impact on the meat industry’s profits. However the article went on to say that “the meat industry lobby may be able to convince the USDA to omit the expert committee’s new recommendations, or at least water them down enough to render them ineffective.”
Not surprisingly, the meat industry lobbyists and corporate PR machines are out in full force. They’re trying to push the Obama administration to ignore sustainability and to leave recommendations for reduced meat consumption out of the guidelines.
If you want sane nutritional policy that’s based on science and sound economics, rather than on the financial interests of the Food Industry, then this is a time to take action.
Take action now: sign the petition and help counter Big Food’s lobby machine.
