Tell USDA to Promote Sustainable Diets
Action Alert from All-Creatures.org

FROM

Center for Biological Diversity
May 2016

[Also read Before You Eat, Get the Extinction Facts]

ACTION

It's time for the USDA to acknowledge that animal products demand more resources than plant-based foods and take concrete steps to address the environmental and health problems that come with high meat and dairy consumption.

Urge the USDA to issue a public statement and plan of action to promote a sustainable American diet.

Click on image to view larger size

Sign this online petition.

And/Or better yet, make direct contact:

Tom Vilsack
Secretary of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Avenue S.W.
Washington, DC 20250
phone (202) 720-3631
fax (202) 720-2166
[email protected]

INFORMATION

Research shows that we can't meet international climate targets without reducing meat and dairy consumption. The U.S. Department of Agriculture had the opportunity to include sustainability in its latest dietary guidelines, but the agency ignored the science and overwhelming public support, instead releasing recommendations that the meat industry could celebrate.

The agency says that sustainable diets are an important policy conversation, but it remains silent about the effects of America's super-sized appetite for meat and dairy. We need that conversation now more than ever.

Governments around the world -- including the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Sweden -- have published national dietary guidelines urging people to eat less meat. This advice has enormous influence. It can change how people eat and how menus are created in schools and government facilities. And ultimately it can change the quantity of greenhouse gases released into our atmosphere.

SAMPLE LETTER

I am writing to urge you to continue the important policy conversation about environmental concerns regarding high meat and dairy consumption raised by the 2015 Scientific Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. Since your blog post was published, stating that the guidelines were not the "appropriate vehicle" for sustainability issues, several governments around the world have recognized the critical importance of promoting sustainable diets to meet climate goals and advance food security.

You still have the opportunity to provide leadership on sustainable diets by issuing a public statement on behalf of the USDA acknowledging these concerns and identifying a concrete plan to act on the committee's recommendations for a diet higher in plant-based foods.

Sincerely,
name
address
contact info

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Thank you for everything you do for animals!

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