Nebraska Farm Bureau : Eating Healthy Means You Can Eat Meat - NEW Federal Dietary Guidelines

LINCOLN, NE - 'We are pleased the new federal dietary guidelines released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) continue to recognize the important role meat and poultry products can play as part of a healthy and nutritious diet for Americans.'

'The new guidelines place a heavy focus on individual eating patterns and continue to affirm that meat and poultry products are important in helping individuals meet their daily and weekly protein needs.'

'We are proud that Nebraska farmers and ranchers play such an integral role in producing the foods that USDA has highlighted as being important to healthy eating patterns, whether it be edible beans, whole grains, milk, cheese, soy products, meat, poultry, eggs, among numerous others.'

'Furthermore, we appreciate USDA and HHS's decision to continue to use science-based, nutritional information as the foundation for developing food guidelines and for addressing our earlier concerns where some interests has pushed to remove meat and poultry from being considered as part of a healthy dietary pattern, not for nutritional or dietary reasons, but to advance environmental activist agendas.'

The Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation is a grassroots, statewide organization dedicated to supporting farm and ranch families and working for the benefit of all Nebraskans through a wide variety of educational, service and advocacy efforts. More than 61,000 families across Nebraska are Farm Bureau members, working together to achieve rural and urban prosperity as agriculture is key to fueling Nebraska's economy. For more information about Nebraska Farm Bureau and agriculture, visit www.nefb.org.