New Dietary Guidelines for Americans: Eat Less Junk

When I told someone recently that the new 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) were finally published this week (!) she responded with something like, "So? People are just gonna go on eating what they're gonna eat."  Oh ye of little faith...  Regardless of the fact that people are ultimately responsible for what they put in their mouth, and knowing full well that the DGAs are created by the same body (USDA) that regulates the food industry, these guidelines are important because they help form the basis for nutrition policy in Federal food, nutrition, education, and information programs--think school lunch & SNAP--and can create tidal waves in the food industry.

At first glance, the 2010 DGAs have not changed much from the 2005 edition, but the changes made are significant.  Firstly, these guidelines were not published, as per usual, as guidance for “healthy” Americans, because they then would not be applicable to the majority of the population due to the epidemic of lifestyle related chronic disease.  These guidelines were published for an unhealthy population.  The document starts off by describing the state of the nation’s health, and though these statistics are well known, they are startling:  almost 50% of adults over the age of 20 have type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes, heart disease is rampant with 37% of the population having cardiovascular disease, overweight and obesity affects the majority of adults and a large minority of children, and health disparities abound.  In light of these troubling facts, the new DGAs encourage people to consume fewer calories in general, less of them from junk food:

Focus on consuming nutrient-dense foods and beverages. Americans currently consume too much sodium and too many calories from solid fats, added sugars, and refined grains.² These replace nutrient-dense foods and beverages and make it difficult for people to achieve recommended nutrient intake while controlling calorie and sodium intake. A healthy eating pattern limits intake of sodium, solid fats, added sugars, and refined grains and emphasizes nutrient-dense foods and bever­ages—vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products,³ seafood, lean meats and poultry, eggs, beans and peas, and nuts and seeds.

That's pretty solid nutrition advice.

These DGAs also address the food environment, exploring the Socio-Ecological Model of Health —there is a whole chapter dedicated to encouraging all sectors of society to work together to improve American’s food intake and activity patterns.  One recommendation I enjoyed; "Develop and expand safe, effective, and sustainable agriculture and aquaculture practices to ensure availability of recommended amounts of healthy foods to all segments of the population."  The elephant in the room here though seems to be the missing recommendation to stop our current subsidy system; which creates the overabundant supply of cheap SoFAS.  But, the fact that the DGAs seriously consider the food environment, means we can probably expect more funds trickling down to community driven, good food programs.

There’s a lot we could go into, and I will explore more of the details, wading through particular food groups in future postings, but for now, suffice it to say that the DGAs do remain very industry friendly.  One doesn’t expect to find issues such as resource depletion, food sovereignty, food justice, ecology, or traditional foodways seriouusly considered in the DGAs...but I somehow found myself hoping for it nonetheless.  (When the USDA is charged with promoting the meat and dairy industries, how can we expect them to come right out and tell people to eat less CAFO beef or acknowledge the water pollution of large dairy operations or even that much of the American population is actually lactose intolerant???)

So while the DGAs do not really address questions of sustainability, if all American’s switched their diet to one patterned off these rec’s, we’d actually reduce our ecological footprint markedly from where it now stands while improving our health drastically.  

What is on the plate for 2011?

Will Americans get ever closer to a McDonalds or have more access to fresh, local, healthy food in 2011?

The turn of the year always makes me curious for what the next 365 days will hold…. 

Nitrogen Contaminated Water 

Of course, we can expect more of the same problems to unfold: because we can suppose that Americans will continue to watch almost as much television as a full-time occupation (~35 hours each week) and will each drink over 50 gallons of sweetened beverages on average this year—we can expect that public health problems like obesity, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes will continue to grow.  And along with many other nasty habits, because our growing population continues to choose a highly carbon intensive diet; high in industrialized meat and highly processed foods sold in highly processed packages—we will continue to raise the level of carbon in the atmosphere while it’s already at dangerous levels.  And because American farmers will apply so many pesticides and spread so much nitrogen on their fields this year, we can expect to see the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico expand even further, watch more fresh ground water become undrinkable due to nitrogen levels, and continue to put ag bees and wildlife at risk.  Another 27,000 species will likely be lost from our planet this year…with much of the loss due to agriculture.

Milwaukee Farmer's Market

But we can also anticipate more of the positives that make up the burgeoning food movement—farmers markets and the organic sector will continue to expand, as markets grew in number by 16% last year and the organic sector has grown by ~20% in each of the past several.  The increases in small scale, sustainable ag support will allow more farmers to grow more produce and to raise animals on pasture and so we’ll have access to healthier foods.  More young people will learn about food traditions and how to cook, garden, farm (this last one we’ll have to cross our fingers that more people will someday get into farming than are getting out of it) through the increasing number of programs like school gardens, college curricula, and farm internships.  Work will continue to ensure that endangered foods; like the Narragansett Turkey, Milwaukee Apple, Lake Michigan Whitefish, and Beaver Dam Pepper remain.

Will Zebra Mussels taste
anything like these
Sicilian beauties?

And we’ll likely see more innovative solutions come out of the woodwork and into the mainstream—like the invasive species diet .  Maybe this idea can be simply defined as eating invasive species so that the pressure of their invasion is reduced.  Here in Wisconsin friends and I have enjoyed delicious concoctions like invasive garlic mustard pestos, but what I really wonder about is zebra mussels—will someone find a way to harvest & eat those mollusks that are taking over Lake Michigan?  A Spanish marine biologist I met at the Salone del Gusto is successfully marketing invasive yet deliciously edible seaweed along his coast.  And a big question for the world of eco-minded nutrition professionals—will the soon to be released, USDA's 2010 Dietary Guidelines for American’s finally address sustainability???

No matter what else happens this year, the more agroecology, nutritional ecology, food biodiversity, traditional foodways, and just plain old kitchen wisdom we invest in, the more we will improve our environmental and collective health…what we put on or plates will help to shape the things to come.

USDA Forbids Fruits & Vegetables

The sponsors of the food guide pyramid have a policy that is markedly out of line with the healthy eating recommendations it purports at mypyramid.gov: keeping small time farmers from growing fruits and vegetables.

The recent New York Times article My Forbidden Fruits (and Vegetables) by farmer Jack Hedin, tells his tale of fighting to grow healthy foods for his community. It’s heartbreaking. He ends up paying a fine for growing produce on designated commodity acreage.

The truth seems to be that the USDA is implementing the commodities program at any cost. Even if it means a disproportionate amount of unhealthy foods flooding the market in the form of processed snacks items, beverages sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, grain fed animals for meat and dairy. This policy promotes production of these foods, the overeating of these foods, and thus, it supports the burgeoning of obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers.

As a dietitian who works with an urban poor patient population, I know full well the barriers to obtaining and eating fresh produce. What would benefit my clients, our nation’s school children, the elderly, and the population at large, would be a food policy that supports the growing of fruits and vegetable.

The farm bill, currently being debated, not only impacts small farmers like Jack Hedin but all the eaters of America. The farm bill funds food stamps, the commodities program, conservation, and other programs fundamental to the nation’s wellness. Last fall myself, and many others, sent letters to senators urging them to support an amendment to the farm bill that didn’t pass. Now it’s anyone’s guess what’s going to happen if the house doesn’t produce a final bill this week- the current bill is due to run out March 15th.

As the cost of food rises, fruits and vegetables will be unreachable for many food insecure families. Unless something changes.

Bottom Line:
We’re a long way from achieving five to nine serving of fruits and vegetable, in a rainbow of colors.

Support a healthy farm bill. Petition your representative to make meaningful changes to our nation’s food policies. Check out Oxfam’s pages on the farm bill. And please leave a comment if you know of any more up to date legislation information.

In the meantime, seek out and support alternative sources of produce at farmers markets, through CSAs, gardening, and urban agriculture.