The 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans were released by the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA) on Jan. 7.
The guidelines are intended for healthy Americans over age two. Throughout the two-year process leading up to the guidelines, APRE advocated for the science on potato nutrition through its oral and written testimonies and reinforced the message that potatoes are a vegetable and an important source of potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin C and a host of nutrients. Our message: Enjoy potatoes and a variety of other vegetables every day.
You may wonder, Why all the fuss about the dietary guidelines, and what effect do they have on my business? Skeptics dismissively might say, “Not much.” But here are four ways the guidelines affect the businesses of every grower, shipper and processor who puts food on the table.
First, the guidelines are the “script” for the U.S. government to speak with one voice within agencies, across departments and to other government policymakers and regulators around the world. Second, the guidelines are the template for regulations with which food businesses must comply. Third, the guidelines are the road map for the government’s consumer education programs, such as the USDA’s MyPlate, which shows up on food labels and in school classrooms around the country. Last, but certainly not least, the guidelines govern the USDA’s $148 billion nutrition assistance programs that touch millions of Americans every day for the meeting of that most basic of needs, food.
The largest of USDA’s nutrition assistance programs is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps). In its 2016 fiscal year, the USDA projected an average monthly participation of 45.7 million people for a budget of $83.7 billion.
Surprisingly, more than half of all U.S. babies participate in WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children). WIC had a 2016 budget of $6.6 billion, serving 8.5 million low-income pregnant, breastfeeding or postpartum women and their children up to their fifth birthdays.
There are six Child Nutrition Programs: National School Lunch (NSLP), National School Breakfast, Child and Adult Care Food Program, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, Special Milk Program and Summer Food Service Program. NSLP touches nearly every school child, whether he or she receives a school lunch or shares a lunch table with a child who does. Over 100,000 public and private schools and residential childcare institutions serve lunch every school day to more than 31 million children. Consider also the multiplier effect of NSLP on the parents and other caregivers who are affected indirectly by this program. It is, therefore, easy to see why the guidelines have a major impact on food businesses.
In 1990, Congress mandated by law that the secretaries of HHS and USDA update the guidelines at least every five years based on the preponderance of current evidence published in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. The process begins at least two years before the publication of new guidelines with the selection of a federal advisory committee consisting of academic experts in nutrition, food science, medicine, epidemiology, physical activity and other disciplines. The committee considers key health and nutrition issues and then examines the most recent published studies upon which to base its recommendations to its government sponsors. Once the committee submits its report, it disbands and the government agencies release the committee’s report to the public for comment. The 2015 committee report generated a record 29,000 public comments. Taking the public comments and the committee’s report into consideration, the government staff then writes the actual nutrition policy document—Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
But, while the ink isn’t even dry on the 2015 guidelines, government is preparing for the 2020 version. For the first time, guidelines for infants from birth to 24 months of age will be developed. If you think the 2015 DGAs were a hot potato, 2020 will surely top it. APRE is already preparing for those challenges that lie ahead. Read more about it in APRE’s column in the March issue of Potato Grower.