Statement on the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s recommendation to include sustainability in the Guidelines

We the undersigned

As nationally and internationally based movements and organisations concerned with securing a healthy, sustainable and resilient global food system, we urge you to support the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s recommendation to include sustainability in the Guidelines.

We agree with the Committee that there should be clear advice for reduced consumption of animal products and more plant-based foods in the 2015 Guidelines. Scientific evidence is robust on the need for US (and other affluent country) diets to be lower in meat and higher in plant-based foods. This is better for human health, for biodiversity and climate, and for the health of the planet.

How food is produced also has a big impact on public health and the environment. We need to use more sustainable and humane food production methods that do not pollute, or rely on the routine use of antibiotics, hormones, chemical fertilizers and toxic pesticides, that do not cause landlessness, deforestation and other forms of land use change, and are also better for public health.

Given the major role the U.S. has in global food systems, we recommend you provide accurate, science-based and objective guidance that promotes the health of families, good farming practices, and the health of the global environment.

Signed
Brighter Green
Global Forest Coalition
Friends of the Earth Europe,
NOAH FoE Denmark;
Friends of the Earth Spain;
Friends of the Earth England Wales and Northern Ireland
Greenpeace International
Compassion in World Farming
Factories Not Farms
Eating Better
GLOBAL 2000 – Friends of the Earth Austria

24 Apr, 2015
Posted in News, Forests and Climate Change