Vilsack: Dietary Guidelines Are About Health, Not Environment
12th March 2015
Let us celebrate that rare bird, a bureaucrat with a clue.
A panel of nutrition experts generated controversy last month when it pressed the federal government to consider the environment when issuing new dietary guidelines later this year. Generally speaking, that would mean asking Americans to eat less meat and more plant-based foods.
Ever since then, the question has been whether the agencies developing the recommendations – the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services – would take up the suggestion and weigh the impact of food on air and water quality, among other issues.
“I read the actual law,” Mr. Vilsack said. “And what I read …was that our job ultimately is to formulate dietary and nutrition guidelines. And I emphasize dietary and nutrition because that’s what the law says. I think it’s my responsibility to follow the law.”
Unlike his boss….