Pork's Role in the Future Food System

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Did you catch this article in VegNews? https://vegnews.com/2023/7/1400-mayors-plant-based-food

Elected officials from some 1,400 cities around the ratified a resolution at the 91st annual U.S. Conference of Mayors supporting NYC Mayor Eric Adam’s model of plant-based initiatives to target, “...chronic diseases, climate crisis, and healthcare costs.”

While I applaud these elected officials for valuing the health of their constituents and the places they live, I do have some thoughts:

1. The resolution cites greenhouse gas emissions as the primary marker for if a food or eating plan is sustainable or not – or essentially “good or bad” in how I am reading this, including plant-based as a "good" way of eating.

To form a food system for the future, we can’t think in such a reductionist way about food – including in terms of “good or bad” for health, the planet... etc. Sustainable food patterns are not one size fits all and are especially not determined by just one metric of sustainability. In fact, the FAO of the UN stresses that a sustainable food system must deliver food security and nutrition (including things like nutrient-density, protein quality, etc.) for all in a way also respects economic (cost/accessibility), social (cultural value/meeting people where they are in terms of taste preference) and environmental bases (https://www.fao.org/3/ca2079en/CA2079EN.pdf). In fact, scientists are still working hard to understand these 4 domains of sustainable nutrition and their accompanying metrics.

Animal-source foods, such as #leanpork, can absolutely fit into sustainable eating plans ALONG WITH PLANTS because they indeed do meet these 4 domains of sustainable nutrition. The FAO and WHO agree...(https://www.fao.org/3/cc3912en/cc3912en.pdf; https://www.who.int/publications-detail-redirect/9789240074828)

2. The resolution suggests a plant-predominant eating pattern centered on the consumption of whole, minimally processed fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole-grains, nuts, and seeds is the intervention solution to chronic disease, and environmental and financial burdens.

While yes, plant foods are absolutely part of a balanced eating plan, statements like this in the resolution do not meet people where they are in terms of food taste, familiarity, budgetary needs, food access, culinary knowledge, etc. The list goes on – and probably becomes even longer and more tailored on a city-by-city basis (given food cultures of certain cities, public transportation, etc.).

Any #registereddietitian will tell you forcing change in patients always results in terrible compliance, especially when it comes to food! So, we need to work with people and speak with them about how to incorporate more whole plant foods in their diet, not at them.

Lean fresh pork should be in these discussions as a changemaker toward eating more plants with nutrient-dense animal-source foods because:

·????????Fresh lean #pork can be eaten as part of a whole, minimally processed plant-based diet and still benefit multiple lipid, blood pressure, or glycemic risk factors for various conditions (see https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36921804/, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4515871/, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29425470/)

·????????Fresh lean #pork can fit into a healthy, nutrient-dense diet and provide high-quality protein among other under consumed food groups and nutrients of public health concern at low cost in an acceptable way for many Americans across the life cycle (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37111116/, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37242176/, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37447197/) ?

·????????Between 1960 and 2015, @NationalPorkBoard #pork producers reduced their land, water and energy use by 75%, 25% and 7%, respectively, resulting in a nearly 8% smaller environmental footprint (https://porkcheckoff.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/16-214-THOMA-final-rpt.pdf)

What do you think about this news and the resolution passed by these mayors? Let me know in the comments!

#dietitianapproved #dietitian #nutritionresearch #humanresearch #RCT #protein #sustianablenutrition #plantforward #animalprotein #research