Understanding Controversy: Government Information on Dietary Sustainability

Abstract

When the Advisory Report for the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans was released in February 2015, news outlets and other media platforms quickly zeroed in on some of the report’s most controversial guidelines. Roughly one week after the report was released, National Public Radio released a news story titled “Will the Dietary Guidelines Consider the Planet? The Fight is On,” discussing the heated controversy that was already brewing over a particular recommendation that addressed the topic of environmental sustainability.This recommendation essentially warned that current dietary patterns in the United States have created serious environmental problems that threaten long-term food security, and therefore the guidelines should not only recommend dietary changes that support human nutrition, but that also support the consumption of more environmentally sustainable foods.