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The Daily Signal
Federal Dietary
Panel Pushes Junk Food Taxes, Being Green
Daren Bakst
February 20, 2015
Federal dietary guidance may soon be based on the needs of the
environment, not just nutrition.
The federal Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee just released its
report, with recommendations, to help inform the 2015 Dietary
Guidelines. The United States Department of Agriculture and the
Department of Health and Human Services will consider these
recommendations in formulating the guidelines.
The Dietary Guidelines are important because in addition to providing
federal nutritional advice, they can also influence federal programs
such as the National School Lunch Program. By law, school meals must be
consistent with the guidelines.
The Advisory Committee’s report focused on unrelated issues such as
environmental concerns, among other things. For example, the committee
recommended:
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Promoting “Sustainability.” “Shift toward a greater
emphasis on healthy dietary patterns and an improved environmental
profile across food categories to maximize environmental sustainability”
Sugary and Salty Food Taxes. “Taxation on higher
sugar- and sodium-containing foods.”
“Green” urban planning. “Urban and community designs
should encourage and promote active transportation, such as walking and
biking. Green corridors can increase public safety and enhance active
transportation.”
These recommendations are just the tip of the iceberg–there are many
others in which the committee completely veers off its mission and
pushes big government policies. It will take some time to determine
just how extreme this entire document is, but it clearly undermines the
Dietary Guidelines process–the need for the guidelines is already
questionable.
The committee has previously been criticized for worrying about issues
such as global warming and sustainability, instead of focusing on
nutritional issues. As I wrote in a comment to the committee:
The DGAC [Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee]
should be focusing exclusively on dietary and nutritional factors and
not issues such as climate change, sustainability, or any other
non-nutrition related factors. Unfortunately, the previous DGAC
meetings have focused extensively on these environmental issues, as
evidenced through the creation of a subcommittee on food sustainability…
If the DGAC continues down this path, the very
legitimacy of the Guidelines will be compromised. As the DGAC starts to
draft its recommendations, these environmental factors should not play
a role in the process, directly or indirectly.
This report that is supposed to provide recommendations on dietary and
nutritional information should be thrown out and ignored by the
Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human
Services. The agencies aren’t supposed to be developing the 2015
Guidelines based on the perspective of nutritionists on global warming
and tax policy.
Read this and other articles at the Daily Signal
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