The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs), which by law are updated every five years, form the foundation of all U.S. federal food and nutrition policy. The DGAs impacts all food assistance programs funded by the federal government including maternal, infant and young children, school, and older adults feeding programs, as well as food labeling regulations.

The 2025–2030 edition of the DGAs [1] are concerning as they may negatively impact human and planetary health. The recommendation to substantially increase the consumption of high-protein foods, particularly meat and dairy, is a major departure from the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) Scientific Report [2], which was created to inform the DGAs.

In fact, in a stark break from all previous editions, the federal government ignored approximately half of the DGAC’s evidence-based recommendations, including guidance to limit meat consumption. Instead, a second group of 9 nutrition scholars was convened, most of whom had connections to the beef and/or dairy industries who strongly emphasized meat and high fat dairy consumption [3]. Leading medical and nutrition organizations and scholars argue that these guidelines will harm public health by increasing the burden of cardiovascular disease [4–6]. They also point out that the DGAs beef and full fat dairy recommendations contradict the original DGAC report that was intended to serve as the scientific foundation of the DGAs.

Equally concerning is the lack of attention to the potential impacts of these recommendations on climate change and global food and water insecurity (Fig 1) [7–9]. Increased production of animal protein under current livestock farming practices continues to drive excessive greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE), deforestation, water use, and water pollution [8]. These environmental impacts, in turn, exacerbate food and water insecurity— both of which are deeply interconnected (Fig 1) [10].

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Fig 1. Potential impact of increased beef and dairy consumption on water and household food insecurity mediated by its major water and carbon footprint exacerbating climate change, water and food scarcity (9-15).

Household water and food insecurity are strongly interrelated through different potential mechanisms related to large greenhouse gas emissions (CO₂, methane, nitrous oxide), excessive water use and contamination, lack of water for food preparation, and destruction of water and sanitation infrastructure due to climate-change related events (10). All icons obtained from clip art at https://openclipart.org/.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.0000526.g001

By 2050, the global population is expected to reach nearly 10 billion, requiring a 70% increase in food production, while food-related GHGE are projected to rise by 80% if current trends continue [11,12]. Meat production already accounts for approximately 60% of food-related GHG emissions, with beef being the least sustainable animal protein [8,10–12]. Beef production requires 28 times more land and 11 times more fresh water than poultry production, and at least 50 times more water than the production of beans and peas [12]. Meat and dairy farming also require massive land and water resources, occupying more than 80% of global agricultural land [9,13].

GHGE from cattle farming originates from multiple sources, including carbon dioxide released through land-use for grazing and feed production, methane from enteric fermentation, nitrous oxide from soil management with fertilizers and manure, and fossil fuel use for farm operations and transportation. If current dietary trends persist, food-related GHG emissions are projected to increase by 80% by 2050, largely due to production of ruminant meat—especially beef and dairy [12]. This trajectory is incompatible with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target, which would require a 61% reduction in livestock-related emissions by 2036 [13]. The EAT-Lancet Commission estimated that widespread adoption of healthy, largely plant-based diets could reduce food-related GHG emissions by up to 80%, with additional reductions achievable through improved production efficiency and reductions in food waste [9].

Agriculture accounts for about 90% of the global water footprint, livestock production alone utilizes 70% of available fresh water resources [11]. Fertilizer runoff from feed crop cultivation further pollutes rivers and oceans, damaging ecosystems. Water insecurity is also indirectly worsened by livestock production through deforestation, droughts, and climate-related disasters—such as floods, storms, and fires—that destroy natural landscapes and water and sanitation infrastructure.

Current levels of beef consumption are environmentally unsustainable and necessitate dietary shifts to protect planetary health [9]. Recognizing that most agricultural emissions stem from livestock production, the EAT-Lancet Commission calls for a rapid transition to sustainable food systems capable of supporting predominantly plant-based diets, improving agricultural productivity, and reducing food loss and waste [9]. Such a transformation would substantially enhance food security, water security, human health, and planetary health. Yet these considerations were entirely absent from the new DGAs, despite their role as the foundation of federal nutrition policy for years to come.

The exclusion of sustainability considerations from the new DGAs is especially perplexing given that the U.S. already has one of the highest levels of beef and dairy consumption globally [13] and because the strong links between diet and planetary health were clearly articulated more than a decade ago, in the 2015 DGAC report [14]. In it, dietary patterns modeling and life cycle and land use assessments demonstrated that diets higher in plant-based foods (e.g., vegetables, fruits, legumes, seeds, nuts, whole grains) and lower in animal-based foods (especially red meat) were healthier and left behind a lower water and carbon footprint [15]. The inclusion of sustainability became very politically sensitive and was omitted from the 2015–2020 DGAs. Ironically, many countries across the Americas, Europe, and other regions integrated the sustainability framework highlighted in the 2015 U.S. DGAC into their dietary guidelines [7,8,13]. Those guidelines now call for replacing the dominant unhealthy, ultra-processed food systems—often heavily reliant on meat, dairy, and sugar-sweetened beverages—with food systems that benefit both human and planetary health [7,8,13].

In conclusion, the new DGAs will exacerbate environmental damage. As a major contributor to global GHGE and water footprint, the U.S. food system has an outsized impact on planetary sustainability. The U.S. government therefore bears a special responsibility to acknowledge and act upon the extensive evidence demonstrating that dietary choices are critical to both public health and planetary health [9,13,15]. It certainly is very possible; countries around the world now explicitly incorporate sustainability into evidence-based decision-making about dietary guidance—defining sustainable diets as those with low environmental impacts that support food security and healthy lives for present and future generations [7,8] as countries such as Brazil and Mexico have done.