I’ve written about dietary guidelines before. I even made up my own ↑ [evidence-based recommendations]. But all this chatter about pyramids and corporate influence has gotten me riled up.
ROBERT F KENNEDY JR: We took the Biden guidelines, which were 453 pages long and were clearly written by industry, that are incomprehensible, driven by the same commercial impulses that put Froot Loops at the top of the food pyramid. And we are changing that.
First, a few corrections…
The current dietary guidelines are not a pyramid (which was replaced in 2011 with the current model, MyPlate). Actually, MyPlate (and formerly, the Pyramid) is just a graphic representation, not the actual Dietary Guidelines. But, to clarify, the 2020-2025 guidelines are not 453 pages, but rather 165, and no guidelines have every included Froot Loops (although, sadly, a low sugar version of it is considered part of an approved breakfast through federal programs).
The Scientific Report of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee - a publicly available Advisory Report presented to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and Secretary of Agriculture for the purposes of creating the Dietary Guidelines - was 421 pages long. Math aside, the Dietary Guidelines are not meant to be public recommendations for consumers; they are designed to be used by health professionals to develop and run public health campaigns, food assistance programs and inform public policy.
The USDA has a separate, consumer-facing web page at MyPlate.gov, where Americans can find straightforward guidance on healthy eating.
MyPlate replaced the Food Guide Pyramid, which was made before the internet. With the advancement of technology, MyPlate takes what we’ve learned from the Food Pyramid and now provides a personalized approach to healthy eating to help you meet your goals.
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins promised that the new Dietary Guidelines would be based on, “sound science, not political science,” stating that they would be “sound, simple, and clear.” I applaud that goal, and am waiting with bated breath for the instructions that will do what decades of nutrition policy has not — get Americans eating more vegetables, legumes, whole grains and fruits.
Not so fast! The public comment period closed in February. In May, they promised “before August.” Now I’m hearing “by the end of September.” The suspense is killing me. Someone needs to tell these people about the tragic error of over-hyping!
Simple is good, but what is wrong with the tips listed on their website right now?
Focus on whole fruits.
Vary your veggies.
Vary your protein routine.
Make half your grains whole grains.
Move to low-fat or fat-free dairy milk or yogurt (or lactose-free dairy or fortified soy versions). IMHO, this one - a mouthful - may be up for discussion.
Drink and eat less sodium, saturated fat, and added sugars.
The benefits of healthy eating add up over time, bite by bite (or, as I like to say, “one green bite at a time.”
Rollins and Kennedy act as if they’ve never even read the current guidelines. Did they read the report of the Dietary Guideline Advisory Committee - one that 20 health professionals and over 40 scientists and federal researchers spent two years preparing?
Dr. Christopher Gardner, a nutrition expert who served on Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, spoke about the Dietary Guidelines process at the International Conference on Nutrition and Medicine last month. His talk was both enlightening and disheartening.
According to Gardner, DGAC’s analysis of the research was radically transparent, but now the report has been handed over to a “black box” in the USDA and DHHS. We know that RFK Jr. has already taken food policy steps that conflict with the evidence provided in the current report. We know that any mention of climate impacts, equity or diversity in the report needed to be scrubbed.
RFK Jr. has made no secret of his love for meat and full fat dairy, so will the new guidelines be free from special interests? If anything, I would argue that the dairy industry has exerted tremendous influence over previous guidelines, given the fact that over a third of Americans are lactose intolerant, many more refuse or limit milk due to ethical or religious reasons, and most dietary guidelines around the world do NOT have a specific food group for milk.
Did the food industry stack the deck here? Gardner was nominated by the American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, Center for Science in the Public Interest, American Society for Nutrition, International Fresh Produce Association, Center for Biological Diversity, Second Harvest Food Bank, Nutrition for Families and the Soy Nutrition Institute. They complained that the “soy industry nominated a prominent vegan.” Did Big Broccoli have a hand in this?
I would gladly represent any legume or vegetable board, being familiar with the preponderance of research linking these foods to health and longevity on just about every metric. Before discounting someone as a conspirator, it would be useful to determine that science conflicts with what they claim (or not).
RFK Jr. spewed a bunch of misinformation about "the pyramid" and dispelled trust in the entire nutrition guideline system - it's surprising that most MAHA followers didn't think to look up the actual current guidelines.
Although I believe the previous guidelines could have gone further to promote sustainability and nutrition equity, they include a bunch of sound suggestions that would improve the health of Americans…if we only paid attention!
Rather than disparaging old guidelines, RFK, Rollins and the MAHA movement could be taking action to get more Americans on board with healthy eating. This would necessitate promoting the current [and upcoming, hopefully DGAC-approved] Dietary Guidelines and also shifting federal policy to match those guidelines - from farm subsidies to food industry oversight. I’m 100% behind MAHA (not wanting our healthcare system to collapse), but it must be based on science.
A large group of vetted professionals (MPH’s, MD’s, PhD’s and RDN’s) spent two years sifting through the ever-growing body of nutrition research and presented a list of thoughtfully-prioritized, evidence-based recommendations to the USDA. Now RFK is poised to throw it all out and make up his own?
We know the big-picture shifts that improve health. Beans, peas and lentils. Whole grains. Plant-predominant diet. Let’s do it!
What an honor to meet Dr. Christopher Gardner at ICNM!
Thank you so much for being a part of my green bites community!
stay healthy, eat well!
I enjoyed the latest issue of your newsletter. I am not generally a fan of RFK Jr, but I am looking forward to him making some changes regarding additives in foods that are on our grocery shelves. like you, my question is when will this start to get implemented? have you watched any of the presentations by the Food Revolution Network? I know that they try to get you to buy subscriptions to some premium services, but I still find value in a lot of the other webinars that they produce about eating a WFPB diet