In February 2015, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee submitted their recommendations and, for the first time, the panel suggested that food system sustainability be incorporated into the federal government’s dietary advice. Addressing this issue, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell published a co-authored blog post on October 6 stating that while issues of the environment and sustainability are critically important, sustainability is not within the scope of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
“In terms of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs), we will remain within the scope of our mandate in the 1990 National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Act (NNMRRA), which is to provide ‘nutritional and dietary information and guidelines’ … ‘based on the preponderance of the scientific and medical knowledge,’” wrote Vilsack and Burwell. They go on to state that “the final 2015 Guidelines are still being drafted, but because this is a matter of scope, we do not believe that the 2015 DGAs are the appropriate vehicle for this important policy conversation about sustainability.”
The next morning, October 7, the pair testified before the House Agricultural Committee on the topic of DGAs. At the hearing, Burwell alluded to the issue of sustainability being out of scope in her statement. “HHS and USDA are working together to finalize the 2015 Dietary Guidelines, which are expected to be completed in December of this year,” said Burwell. “We will conduct several layers of scientific review prior to preparing a draft for final approval, which has not yet occurred. As such, I am unable to comment on the final content of the forthcoming edition of the Dietary Guidelines at this time. However, I expect the new Dietary Guidelines will continue to focus on food-based recommendations that emphasize the importance of consuming a total ‘healthy eating pattern’ over time while recognizing the importance of individual choices.”
