The red meat industry has questioned the inclusion of environmental impact, accessibility and affordability of food in new official nutritional advice.
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is reviewing guidelines on what Australians should eat to meet their nutritional requirements.
During its background work, the independent statutory body identified dietary patterns, processed foods, nutritional needs at different times of life and protein-rich foods as priority areas of research.
It also identified sustainable nutrition, which it defined as accessible, affordable and fair, with low environmental impact, as a very high priority to be considered.
But some farmers, like Mark Davie, head of the Australian Cattle Sustainability Framework, want more information on how to measure sustainability.
“We think the role of the guidelines should be to focus primarily on nutrition,” he said.
The central Queensland livestock farmer said the current Australian Dietary Guidelines, in force since 2013, recognized the complexity of sustainability.
But he wasn’t sure the review would do the same.
What’s at stake?
The guidelines are used primarily by healthcare professionals, policy makers, food retailers and manufacturers.
They strive to provide evidence-based information about the types and amounts of foods, food groups, and dietary patterns to improve health and reduce the risk of diet-related conditions.
Reviewing these is a multi-year process starting in 2020, with the new version expected to be published in 2026.
An NHMRC spokesman said applications are now open to join the working group that will advise the committee on sustainability.
“Farmers and farmers’ organizations have an important role to play, especially given their knowledge of food production,” the spokesman said.
Once the evidence has been analysed, draft guidelines will be written and published for public consultation, followed by an independent expert review before being made official.
“All stakeholders, including farmers and farmer organisations, will have the opportunity to comment on the draft guidelines,” the spokesperson said.
But John McKillop, the independent chairman of the Red Meat Advisory Council, which represents producers and advises on policy, said the nutrition committee should not be making environmental recommendations.
“You could have the Bureau of Meteorology start issuing nutritional guidelines as well as weather forecasts. That’s not their job,” he said.
The expert committee was appointed “based on their expertise in areas such as evidence translation, epidemiology, research methodology, food and health relationships and nutrition communication”, the NHMRC said on its website.
He said that the aim is to address sustainability through a separate process from other research priorities.
carbon on the table
In 2017, the Meat and Livestock Australia research and marketing organization set a target of being carbon neutral by 2030, spending more than $200 million on projects to reduce methane emissions and improve sustainable outcomes.
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Mr Davie said practices such as feeding food waste to cattle should be taken into account when assessing the sustainability of red meat.
“There are cattle in feedlots eating excess biscuits thrown away from food factories,” he said.
“We transform things like byproducts of the wine industry through cattle because they are full of micronutrients that we can recycle into food products.”
He said on-farm biodiversity and regional communities’ confidence in certain food production should also be seen as important for sustainability.
An NHMRC spokesman said there was evidence that farmers and agricultural organizations were working on sustainability and the industry’s role in wider society would be included.
“Considering contextual factors is part of developing standard guidance,” the spokesperson said.
“NHMRC standards for guideline development ask all guideline writers to consider evidence and other factors that influence decision-making.”
This includes benefits and harms, values and preferences, resource use and acceptability.
Expressions of interest to join the Sustainability Working Group to make recommendations on the guidelines are open until 5 March.
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