America's BIGGEST Nutrition Policy Blunder
Good morning,Today we look back in time...The year was 1992. I was six years old.That was the year the iconic Food Pyramid was introduced to the public. It quickly became seared into the minds of Americans as the symbol of a healthy diet for the next 30 years.Schools taught it.Doctors referenced it.Food companies built entire marketing campaigns around it.I remember walking the grocery store aisles as a kid and seeing a barrage of marketing claims on cereal boxes and Pop-Tarts that proudly read, “Part of a healthy diet.”Looking back now, that claim feels almost unbelievable.The original Food Pyramid never bothered to distinguish between refined grains and whole grains. And it treated all fats as bad.So Americans were told, for decades, to build their diets around foods that were often highly inflammatory and damaging to gut health. Since that day, here’s what followed: Obesity rates doubledType 2 diabetes skyrocketedUltra-processed food consumption surgedMore than 70% of American adults are now overweight or obeseNearly 90% of healthcare spending now goes toward treating chronic disease When people ask me what I think about the recently introduced “Upside Down Food Pyramid,” my response is simple: Why did it take more than 30 years to turn this thing on its head? In my opinion, the 1992 Food Pyramid will go down as one of the great policy blunders in modern American history.The USDA's updated dietary guidance is finally acknowledging what many regenerative farmers have understood for decades: It recognizes healthy fats as an essential part of a restorative diet.It emphasizes the importance of gut health, including fermented foods.It plainly states we should avoid highly processed packaged and prepared foods.It directly (and correctly) links the Standard American Diet to the wave of chronic health conditions Americans are battling. The guidelines also acknowledge that people with chronic disease, like myself, may need to adapt these dietary recommendations to their own health situation. That point is incredibly important. And one last thing.This shouldn’t be taken as a political statement.The truth is, the low-fat, high-carb diet didn’t come from one political party. It was embraced by both Democrats and Republicans. And, for more than 30 years, neither side seriously questioned whether it was working.Meanwhile, chronic disease kept rising and the industrial food system kept expanding.I’m simply thankful to see this policy finally getting turned upside down the way it should have been all along.At the end of the day, most of us don’t need a government chart to tell us what good food looks like.Real food raised responsibly.Ingredients you recognize.Meals shared around a table with people you care about.That’s the kind of food system we’re working to build here at Seven Sons.And we’re grateful to have so many of you walking that path with us.
