The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee spent two years rigorously reviewing the evidence, holding public meetings, and inviting public comment. When their findings were dismissed by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., he explained that it was because “all scientific questions were evaluated through a health equity lens.” According to Kennedy, this led the Committee to “consistently advocate plant-based dietary patterns, deprioritize animal-sourced proteins, and favor high linoleic acid vegetable oils.”

In response, RFK Jr. hastily assembled his own group of reviewers, who quickly produced the dietary recommendations released last week. These new guidelines are a clear gift to the meat and dairy industries. They are also sloppy, illogical, and retrograde.

Despite boasting that the recommendations are “free from ideological bias, institutional conflicts, or predetermined conclusions,” the opposite is true. The guidelines transparently reflect Kennedy’s own ideological commitments and long-held beliefs about food.

What struck me, too, when reading the consumer-facing materials was how embarrassingly amateurish they felt for official government publications. Inconsistencies in language and recommendations make the entire project look like something a college student rushed to finish ... Read More >