The Dietary Guidelines for Americans are recommendations on what to eat and drink to meet nutrient needs, promote health, and prevent disease. The federal government creates the guidelines to dictate nutrition policies, but state governments are primarily responsible for implementing those policies.
That leaves states uniquely positioned to carry out — and, crucially, expand federal standards — using evidence-based, environmentally responsible, locally tailored guidance. If you’ve ever wondered how your state is doing when it comes to food and sustainability, we have you covered. The Center’s recent report Dietary Guidance and Sustainability by State: Scorecards and Analysis ranks states by how well they use and adapt federal dietary guidance to advance people’s health and environmentally sustainable diets.
The dietary guidelines drive billions of dollars of food-purchasing decisions that feed millions of people. The National School Lunch Program alone provides 4.8 billion lunches to nearly 30 million students each year at a cost of $17.1 billion. The guidelines also serve as an authoritative resource for doctors and dietitians, state and local government and private-sector policies, and the public’s understanding of a healthy diet. |
Our Findings - All 50 states operate a farm-to-school initiative, but not all linked it to nutrition and agricultural education, environmental impacts, or food systems.
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Only six states had centralized dietary guidance that explicitly considered sustainability: California, Hawai‘i, Minnesota, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
- Thirteen states discussed reducing red or processed meat intake: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, Oregon, Utah, and Virginia.
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Seven states considered the climate harms from meat production: California, Connecticut, Hawai‘i, Illinois, New Mexico, Oregon, and Virginia.
- Unfortunately, seven states featured industry group collaboration in dietary guidance: Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, and Washington.
Recommendations for States -
Create dietary guidance that considers state-specific demographic data, health concerns, and cultural preferences. Employ that guidance across state agencies (health, education, agriculture, and environment departments) using a strategic plan that integrates climate and sustainability goals with nutrition and health goals.
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Create and promote dietary materials that incorporate plant proteins, dairy alternatives, and meat reduction, and address the correlation between sustainability and dietary choices.
- Include plant-based and dairy alternatives when implementing federal meal programs, nutrition assistance efforts, and educational outreach.
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Reject and avoid any collaboration with for-profit food and agriculture industry interests in nutrition guidance efforts. In the face of controversial federal guidelines, growing public health concerns, and urgent environmental challenges, state leadership on nutrition policy is increasingly critical.
See how your state ranks.
Looking Back
Earlier this year in Uncompromised Dietary Guidelines, we showed what the nutritional recommendations would look like if they’d followed the science. In A Model for Healthy and Sustainable Dietary Guidelines, we outlined the urgent environmental and health considerations suppressed in the drafting of the guidelines, including how plant-rich diets are healthier for people and the planet by lowering risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and environmental devastation. In lieu of science-based guidance from the current administration, these guides can help cities, states, and individuals make choices that help human health and the planet.
Avocado Updates and Action
Last year the United States consumed a record-setting 3 billion pounds of avocados, roughly 90% of them imported from Mexico. To meet skyrocketing demand, plantations have been gobbling up Mexican forests where imperiled monarch butterflies spend the winter.
We’ve been calling on U.S. grocers to make public commitments to require their Mexican avocado supply chains to source from the Pro-Forest Avocado certification program, which prevents avocados grown on newly deforested land from reaching U.S. markets. We’re happy to announce that Sprouts has made a strong commitment to do just that.
Now we’re taking the next step in the campaign with an action urging Trader Joe’s to commit to source its avocados responsibly.
Join the call: Tell Trader Joe’s to buy monarch-safe avocados. Read more:
For the wild, |
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