Updating the Dietary Guidelines for Americans is always an interesting exercise in nutrition science, policy, and politics. The latest update (to be released this year) has proven even more interesting than usual. In addition to the standard discussions about pyramids and plates, the committee has decided to take on a very hot topic: Sustainability! Before getting into the gritty details, however, I’d like to share just a bit of background on how we got here. 

What They Are and How They’re Determined

As required by law, the Dietary Guidelines have been published every 5 years since 1980. They are a joint effort between the U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS). They are compiled by a committee of 15 experts in nutrition and health after two years of a rigorous evidenced-based review process and are meant to help guide individual and policy decisions on food and health.

Exciting Changes

This is the first time the dietary guidelines committee has researched the sustainability of various dietary patterns for inclusion in their report. The committee’s major conclusions regarding sustainability (as outlined in their December 2014 meeting)  are as follows:

• a dietary pattern higher in plant-based foods and lower in animal-based foods is more health-promoting and is associated with less environmental impact than the current US diet
• a moderate amount of seafood is an important component of many of the dietary patterns associated with improved health and sustainability
• farm-raised fish has as much EPA and DHA (healthy fats) as wild-caught, and the risks of contaminants do not outweigh the health benefits for either type

The Response Regarding Changes

This is where things get even more interesting. In addition to the expected responses from environmental and meat industry groups, Congress has actually taken enough notice to weigh in on this! Congressional directives attached to a large spending bill expressed concern regarding the committee’s environmental criteria. The directives instructed the USDA and HHS to focus on nutrient recommendations and not include ‘extraneous factors’ (sustainability) in the final report. As a side note, this directive also called for a softening of school lunch standards by allowing schools to bypass healthy standards set for whole grains and sodium.

What’s Next?

As of January 2015, the dietary guidelines committee is finalizing its report to submit to the USDA and HHS, at which point the report will be made available for public comment. The USDA and HHS will consider the committee’s recommendations as well as public and agency comments as they prepare the guidelines (due to be released fall 2015).

It seems certain that the sustainability recommendations will be in the committee’s final report. The greater question is whether or not the USDA and HHS will include these sustainability recommendations in their final document. It will certainly be interesting to watch this unfold over the next year. For up-to-date information on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015, visit www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/.