INVERTED IMPACT

RFK Jr.’s Meat-Heavy Food Pyramid Would Require Land the Size of California

The Health Secretary’s new guidelines emphasize increased consumption of red meat.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has urged Americans to follow new dietary guidelines that place red meat at the top of the food pyramid and promote higher consumption of protein, vegetables, and healthy fats, while calling for reduced intake of sugar and processed foods. Yet The Guardian reports that, according to the World Resources Institute (WRI), a 25 percent increase in red meat consumption would require an additional 100 million acres of agricultural land for livestock—an area roughly the size of California. “We are seeing millions of acres of forest cut down, and agricultural expansion is the leading driver of that,” Richard Waite, director of agriculture initiatives at WRI, told the outlet. Waite added that food systems have a significant impact on the planet’s ecosystems, particularly increased meat consumption, which contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation. “To the extent that people follow these guidelines and eat more animal protein foods, particularly beef and dairy, they will negatively impact our environment,” Diego Rose, a director of nutrition at Tulane University, told The Guardian. In an email to the Daily Beast, a Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson wrote: “The Trump administration will no longer weaponize federal food policy to destroy the livelihoods of hard-working American ranchers and protein producers under the radical dogma of the Green New Scam.”