<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica Neue Light, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:16px"><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428365361609_2605" dir="ltr"><a id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428365361609_2604" href="http://thehill.com/regulation/237767-vegan-diet-best-for-planet-federal-report-says">http://thehill.com/regulation/237767-vegan-diet-best-for-planet-federal-report-says</a></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428365361609_2624" dir="ltr"><br></div>
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By <span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428365361609_2671" style="" class="" rel="sioc:has_creator"><a id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428365361609_2670" style="" class="" href="http://thehill.com/author/lydia-wheeler">Lydia Wheeler</a></span> - <span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428365361609_2668" style="" class="">04/05/15 02:59 PM EDT</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428365361609_2696" style="" class=""><br><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428365361609_2668" style="" class=""></span></div>The Agriculture Department and Department of Health and Human Services
will use the committee’s report and recommendations to draft the final
guidelines for 2015, due out later this year. <br style="" class=""> <br style="" class="">But even Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has said sustainability is an issue that falls outside the scope of the guidelines. <br style="" class=""> <br style="" class="">“I read the actual law,” he was quoted saying in an interview with <em style="" class="">The Wall Street Journal</em>.
“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.”<br style="" class=""> <br style="" class="">But members of the committee say they had free reign to
discuss food supply in recommending what people should and shouldn’t be
eating.<br style="" class=""> <br style="" class="">“The scope is ours to fully define,” said Barbara
Millen, chairwoman of the advisory committee and a professor in the
Department of Family Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. <br style="" class=""> <br style="" class="">“Because
we are encouraging Americans to eat more seafood, we felt we needed to
look at the sustainability of that issue as well.” <br style="" class=""> <br style="" class="">In response
to the claims about a lack of expertise, Millen said the panel did bring
in two domestic sustainability experts to work with the committee
members. <br style="" class=""> <br style="" class="">The 571-page report says the average U.S. diet has a
larger environmental impact in terms of increased greenhouse gas
emissions, land use, water use and energy use than the healthy dietary
pattern it suggests — one that’s rich in vegetables, fruit, whole
grains, seafood, legumes and nuts; moderate in low- and non-fat dairy
products and alcohol; and lower in red and processed meat,
sugar-sweetened foods and beverages, and refined grains.<br style="" class=""> <br style="" class="">In its
review of scientific studies, the committee highlighted research
concluding that a vegan diet had the most potential health benefits.<br style="" class=""> <br style="" class="">"The
organically grown vegan diet also had the lowest estimated impact on
resources and ecosystem quality, and the average Italian diet had the
greatest projected impact,” according to the report. “Beef was the
single food with the greatest projected impact on the environment; other
foods estimated to have high impact included cheese, milk, and
seafood." <br style="" class=""><br style="" class="">The committee’s report says people should eat less red
and processed meat because it contains saturated fats, which when
over-consumed can lead to cardiovascular disease, and instead recommends
Americans eat more vegetables and nuts. <br style="" class=""> <br style="" class="">But industry groups
argue that meat contains protein, which helps people feel fuller for
longer periods of time. Eating meat, Butts said can help people stick to
their diets better. <br style="" class=""> <br style="" class="">Though consumers have never been known to
strictly follow the final guidelines, NAMI’s spokesman Eric Mittenthal
said the recommendations do impact federal programs like school lunches,
WIC, the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and
children, and military rations. <br style="" class=""><br style="" class="">But Millen said industry is misunderstanding their report, and overreacting. <br style="" class=""> <br style="" class="">She
said the committee mapped out three diets for Americans to use as
guidelines – a vegetarian-style, a Mediterranean-style and a healthy
U.S.-style diet. <br style="" class=""> <br style="" class="">“If people took the time to understand, this
is not a meat-free diet and this is not vegan approach, they’d realize
this is a healthy dietary pattern with three models that offers
consumers a lot of choice,” she said.<br style="" class=""> <br style="" class="">The committee’s Vice
Chairwoman Alice Lichtenstein said there’s also a misunderstanding in
the meat industry about what the committee actually does. <br style="" class=""> <br style="" class="">“We’re
tasked with delivering a report to HHS and USDA,” she said. “We don’t
know how much will be factored into the final guidelines or not. Our job
is to collate and review the evidence out there and deliver it to the
secretaries.”<br style="" class=""> <br style="" class="">On Tuesday, Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.) and 70
House Republicans sent a letter to HHS and USDA urging the final dietary
guidelines to be based on sound nutritional science and adhere to the
charter authorized by Congress. <br style="" class=""> <br style="" class="">In the letter, the lawmakers
said they believe the advisory committee “greatly exceeded their scope
in developing the recommendations for the secretaries of USDA and HHS.” <br style="" class=""> <br style="" class="">“It
is the responsibility of the secretaries to ensure that this advisory
committee stay focused on nutritional recommendations and not the wider
policy realm of sustainability and tax policy, in which members of this
committee had neither expertise, evidence, nor charter,” they wrote. <br style="" class=""> <br style="" class="">HHS
and USDA have extended the written comment period from April 8 to May 8
to give the public additional time to comment on the advisory
committee’s report. <br style="" class=""> <br style="" class="">An HHS representative said the departments
would review the report, along with input from federal agencies and
public comments to develop the final 2015 guidelines.<br style="" class=""> <br style="" class="">The
department would not answer questions about whether the topic of
sustainability was within the committee’s purview or whether the agency
plans to factor sustainability into the final guidelines.</div></body></html>