The Trump administration unveiled dietary guidelines this week that flip the food pyramid Americans have known for decades, encouraging greater consumption of protein, particularly meat and dairy. That’s not exactly what the average American, who already eats 227 pounds of meat a year, needs to hear. The recommendations, the latest work of the Make America Healthy Again movement of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., actually puts health at greater risk. The new nutrition recommendations actually put health at greater risk. For one thing, protein is among the few nutrients in which most Americans are not deficient. Health experts widely agree that most of us eat much more protein than necessary. The new pyramid illustration includes a big hunk of steak and a package of ground beef at the top; never mind, apparently, that the American Cancer Society considers red meat to be “probably carcinogenic to humans.” The American Heart Association has long advised people to limit consumption of red meat because of its deleterious health effects, including as a contributor to heart disease. In an event Thursday with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins promoting the revised nutrition policy, Kennedy referred to the heart association as a “big villain.” In Kennedy’s telling, the organization “continues to accept millions of dollars from the biggest processed food makers in this country.” Doing so, he argued, “fortified a dogma that vilified and demonized good food.” Play Report shows Trump administration cut $500 million in funding for food banks November 26, 2025 / 06:05 The new…
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