USDA: Don't go meatless, not even one day a week

[Guest guest]

I wish an RD had written this. -ne

USDA: Don't go meatless, not even one day a week

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is in a peculiar position. They are

tasked with two potentially contradictory missions: 1- promoting the

sales of American agricultural commodities and 2- providing dietary

recommendations to guide Americans toward healthy choices. Clearly,

this is a conflict of interest. For example, the USDA advises reducing

saturated fat (“solid fats”), while simultaneously promoting sales and

consumption of cheese, the primary source of saturated fat in the

American diet.

USDA MyPlate

If the USDA aims to help Americans make healthier choices, they need to

recommend eating less of something – and the meat, dairy, egg and sugar

industries all put pressure on the USDA not to single out of any of

their products as a “food to reduce.”

Science-based guidelines constructed by the USDA are inevitably

corrupted by political and economic forces. As a result, the USDA’s

Dietary Guidelines for Americans has consistently included

recommendations for excessive amounts of meat, eggs, and dairy products,

and underemphasized the importance of vegetables, beans, fruits, and

nuts. Consequently many Americans think that humans need dairy products

to get adequate calcium, meat to get adequate protein, etc. Any advice

that refers to reducing animal foods is purposely vague, referring to

food components rather than specific foods: “Consume less than 10% of

calories from saturated fatty acids” and “Consume less than 300 mg per

day of dietary cholesterol” rather than explicitly “Limit meat, eggs and

cheese.”

The USDA’s inability to produce science-based recommendations was

clearly illustrated in events that transpired earlier this week. An

internal USDA newsletter that discussed ways that staff at USDA

headquarters can reduce their environmental impact, circulated earlier

in the week, offering a suggestion that employees consider taking part

in the Meatless Monday initiative:

Meatless Monday

“One simple way to reduce your environmental impact while dining at our

cafeterias is to participate in the “Meatless Monday” initiative

http://www.meatlessmonday.com/. This international effort, as the name

implies, encourages people not to eat meat on Mondays. Meatless Monday

is an initiative of The Monday Campaign Inc. in association with the

Hopkins School of Public Health.

How will going meatless one day of the week help the environment? The

production of meat, especially beef (and dairy as well), has a large

environmental impact. According to the U.N., animal agriculture is a

major source of greenhouse gases and climate change. It also wastes

resources. It takes 7,000 kg of grain to make 1,000 kg of beef. In

addition, beef production requires a lot of water, fertilizer, fossil

fuels, and pesticides. In addition there are many health concerns

related to the excessive consumption of meat. While a vegetarian diet

could have a beneficial impact on a person’s health and the environment,

many people are not ready to make that commitment. Because Meatless

Monday involves only one day a week, it is a small change that could

produce big results.”

This newsletter provoked a harsh response from the National Cattleman’s

Beef Association (NCBA). The President of NCBA called the Meatless

Monday initiative “an animal rights extremist campaign to ultimately end

meat consumption,” claimed that the newsletter “calls into question

USDA’s commitment to U.S. farmers and ranchers,” and even went so far as

to say, “When it comes to health, beef has an amazing story to tell.

Beef is a naturally nutrient-rich food, helping you get more nutrition

from the calories you take in.”

Of course, abstaining from meat one day a week is not nearly enough to

bring about excellent health (and it is astounding that so many

Americans consider going without meat for one day a hardship). However,

healthful, plant-centered eating is gaining momentum: news reports about

the disease-reversing power of plant foods are becoming more and more

common. The lack of safety of factory-farmed animal products are coming

to light with more and more food recalls and stories of dangerous

contaminations with fecal bacteria. The public was outraged about “pink

slime.” People are looking for ways to reduce the amount of animal

products in their diets. The cattlemen are worried, and rightfully so.

The USDA quelled the NCBA’s outrage by responding with a statement

saying that the newsletter was posted without proper clearance, and

bluntly stating “USDA does not endorse Meatless Monday.”

Several studies have drawn links between higher red meat or total meat

consumption and premature death.1-5 The links between meat and chronic

disease are numerous:

Cooking meats (not just red meats) at high temperatures produces

dietary carcinogens.6

Additional carcinogens are formed from meats during the digestion

process.7-9

Excess heme iron (found only in animal foods) is an oxidant that

contributes to cardiovascular disease and dementia.10, 11

High milk consumption is associated with increased risk of prostate

and ovarian cancers.12, 13

Animal protein raises blood IGF-1 levels, and elevated IGF-1 is

linked to increased cancer risk.14, 15

The World Cancer Research Fund, in a 2011 update of their

comprehensive report Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the

Prevention of Colorectal Cancer,, has declared that red and processed

meats are a convincing cause of colon cancer.16

Yet, the USDA cannot make a simple suggestion to abstain from meat

one-seventh of the time.

Although the USDA’s original position was related to environment not

health, it is clear to see that the USDA is not prepared to make any

recommendations that might upset the giants of animal agriculture.

Although USDA’s MyPlate was a small positive step, recommending that

half of Americans’ plates consist of vegetables and fruits, this

Meatless Monday situation shows that how heavily the USDA is influenced

by the meat industry; they cannot possibly make recommendations that are

science-based.

Bottom Line: don’t trust the USDA to tell you what to eat. Let

science guide your food choices; the foods consistently associated with

reduced risk of heart disease, cancer, and premature death are not meat

and milk; they are vegetables, beans, fruits, seeds and nuts.

Comments (6) Read through and enter the discussion with the form at the end

amee - July 30, 2012 11:59 AM

Great delivery. Such a sad sad issue. There are countries with

predominantly vegetarian diets and they seem to do just fine without a

'USDA'. Note that other countries don't need an organization to know

what to eat or to know what is good for them.

If you choose to eat meat, then fine. But don't pretend like you need it

to survive or that your body will decompose from malnutrition without it.

And certainly eating less of it is better for you. That's just common sense.

Don't forget that the exec team of USDA get to go on nice luxury

vacations as long as they agree to side with the cattle ranchers.

- July 30, 2012 12:18 PM

This sickens me. We should all let the Secretary of Ag. know what a load

of crap this is. Utterly frightening.

Tammy K. - July 30, 2012 12:18 PM

I am tired of the USDA letting cattlemen tell them what to convince us

to eat so their funding stays put. My dad was a huge meat eater, had

first massive heart attack at 38, several more small ones, had a

consistent blood pressure of 210/160 and was a heavy smoker. He refused

to give up meat or high fat foods, alcohol or cigarettes. He died at 58.

When I spoke to the coroners office, waiting god the death certificate,

the clerk was looking at the certificate and said, " oh, he died of

's disease. " Never hearing of this, I asked what was that? She

replied, " it's what we joke about around here--it's someone who eats a

lot of beef and high fat food, you remember the commercial from 's?

Where's the beef? "

Scary, but I'm 53-and don't want a repeat of my dad at 58. Plus, my mom

had a severe stroke 3 years ago. Lost the use of her left side, is

permanently in a wheel chair and is on a nursing home.

I'm trying to change the " genes " here and working on living nutritarian.

Thank you Dr. Fuhrman.

Tia - July 30, 2012 1:03 PM

I find the best way to identify healthy eating habits is to do the exact

opposite of whatever the USDA recommends. They are a political puppet of

the big ag industry and nothing more.

Makanjuola pius - July 30, 2012 1:08 PM

Your write up is always educative and informative. If i may ask, what

are the best vegetables, fruits to cure hypertension? May God continue

to guide you.

Cody - July 30, 2012 3:22 PM

Same old, same old...

So, I want to know why the government is A) subsidizing meat production

so costs to consumers are artificially low, and advertising for any

industry. Of course, one feeds the other, but it makes no sense.

They sure didn't advertise for me when I was in business!

Dr. Fuhrman's Executive Offices

4 Walter E. Foran Blvd.

Suite 408

Flemington, NJ 08822

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