When the government's new dietary guidelines debuts this year they will not only tell you what foods are good for your health, but they will also note what foods are good for the environment as well.
The government advisory panel that is releasing the gudelines has held several public meetings in the past discussing its decision to push an environmental agenda.
A dietary pattern higher in plant-based foods and lower in animal-based foods is "more health promoting and is associated with lesser environmental impact than is the current average U.S. diet," read a draft of the guidelines obtained by The Associated Press.
The panel said they are thinking of the environment when recommending healthy choices because there is "compatibility and overlap" between what's good for health and good for the environment, reported AP.
The new health plan, which is released once every five years, will call for less red meats.
Richard Thorpe, a doctor and cattle producer, released a statement on behalf of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, calling the committee biased and the meat recommendation absurd. He pointed out that lean beef has a role in healthy diets.
Oppositely, environmentalists are pushing the government to go through with this route of considering the environment when issuing the new guidelines.
"We need to make sure our diets are in alignment with our natural resources and the need to reduce climate change," Kari Hamerschlag of the advocacy group Friends of the Earth told AP.
The new dietary guidelines are expected to be released this year by the Agriculture and Health and Human Services departments, reported AP. The guidelines are the basis for USDA's "My Plate" icon, which replaced the food pyramid in 2010. The guidelines are also used when creating school lunch patterns and in other federal eating programs.
