USDA May Warn that Eating Meat is Bad for Planet

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is considering warning consumers about the environmental impact of eating meat.

According to the Associated Press, a USDA advisory panel is set to recommend adding environmental sustainability to the government’s dietary guidelines. Draft language of the proposal states that a diet higher in plant-based foods and fewer animal-based foods is “more health promoting and is associated with lesser environmental impact than is the current average U.S. diet.”

Environmental activists support the move.

“We need to make sure our diets are in alignment with our natural resources and the need to reduce climate change,” said Friends of the Earth’s Kari Hamerschlag.

“You don’t want to recommend a diet that is going to poison the earth,” Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest told AP.

The Agriculture and Health and Human Services departments will craft the final dietary guidelines in roughly a year. “Guidelines will also be integrated into school lunch meal patters and other federal eating programs,” reports the AP.