Agricultural News
Vilsack Addresses the 'Beef' Over Dietary Guidelines
Tue, 03 Feb 2015 17:40:26 CST
Keeping beef on America's plate was a hot topic during a recent meeting with U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack. The head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture took questions from the crowd during the celebration of the one-year enactment of the Farm Bill on Friday at Redlands Community College. Richard Gebhart, who serves as the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association President and Vice Chairman of the Oklahoma Beef Council voiced his concerns that the nation's dietary guidelines could remove beef from its recommendations. To listen to the full question and response click on the LISTENBAR below.
Vilsack responded by providing background on the situation. The nation's dietary guidelines are established by two government agencies - the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services. Vilsack said every five years the dietary guidelines are rewritten and every five years the responsibility for leading the effort is reversed. In 2010, USDA was in charge of the operation, so this time around HHS is leading. Vilsack said the process starts with a group of experts meeting over a period of a couple of years as they discuss a variety of issues and make a "set of recommendations".
"I am emphasizing the word 'recommendations' for a reason," Vilsack said. "Because it doesn't necessarily mean that is what the guideline will be or should be. It is what this group believes, ought to be."
Vilsack said he is monitoring the situation and he made it clear he is not particularly happy about several of the recommendations. At this juncture, he thinks some people in the beef community are overreacting. He has already told the dietary guideline committee that has concerns and some reservations scientifically about the guidelines.
"I will do everything I can to make sure the message is a scientifically accurate one and it does understand that at the end of the day, it's moderation," Vilsack said. "It's moderation of all things. It's not excluding something, its just moderation."
At the townhall meeting, Third District Congressman Frank Lucas also responded by saying that a lot of members in Congress share the same concerns.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI
Top Agricultural News
More Headlines...