Politics and nutrition? What’s the definition of a healthy diet? Should cheeseburgers be on the ballot?
Concerns are swirling surrounding the 2024 election and Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2009 statements surrounding decreasing red meat consumption. Members of the beef community have spoken out.
Lauren Scheller Maehling, the executive director of the Arizona Beef Council, stated that Harris’ initiative to limit red-meat consumption in government dietary guidelines would “further jeopardize” Arizonans already dealing with food insecurity and negatively affect a key component of the state’s economy.
“The beef industry in Arizona is a large economic driver to our state, contributing $431 million annually to our state’s GDP, the last time measured, and is one of Arizona’s foundational ‘5 C’s,'” Scheller Maehling told Grand Canyon Times. “Importantly, beef is a high-quality protein that provides essential nutrients like zinc, iron and B-vitamins, that fuel Arizonans in all stages of life. Limiting a nutrient-dense food like beef would further jeopardize the 30 percent of Arizonans who are already food-insecure.”
During a 2019 CNN town hall meeting, while Harris was vying for the White House, she told a voter who asked Harris if she supported revising the nation’s dietary guidelines to reduce red meat consumption, suggesting that climate change is connected to the “overproduction of red meat.”
“I think the point that you’re raising in a broader context, which is that, as a nation, we actually have to have a real priority at the highest level of government around what we eat and in terms of healthy eating because we have a problem in America,” Harris said. “We can talk about the subject of this conversation, we can talk about the amount of sugar in everything, we could talk about soda. We could go on and on.”
“So the answer is yes,” she continued. “I will also say this: the balance that we have to strike here, frankly, is about what government can and should do around creating incentives, and then banning certain behaviors. Just to be very honest with you, I love cheeseburgers from time to time, right? I just do. But there has to be also what we do in terms of creating incentives that we will eat in a healthy way, that we will encourage moderation, and that we will be educated about the effect of our eating habits on our environment. We have to do a much better job at that, and the government has to do a much better job at that.”
“Would you support changing the dietary guidelines, the food pyramid … reduce red meat specifically?” CNN’s Erin Burnett asked.
“Yes, I would,” Harris said.
The conversation is something that former President Donald Trump has latched onto, accusing his Democratic rival of wanting to ban red meat.
“Kamala even wants to pass laws to outlaw red meat, to slow climate change,” said Trump during a campaign in North Carolina. “You know what that means? That means no more cows.”
Trump: “Kamala even wants to pass laws to outlaw RED MEAT[.] You know what that means? That means no more cows…I guess eventually she’s gonna mean no more people. Right? No more people.”
What…do…you…HOW? How did your brain get there? How is this a presidential candidate? pic.twitter.com/lAfHMQkW4s
— Sam Jefferson (@SamJefferson__) July 24, 2024
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) got in on the action, saying that he has beef with Vice President Kamala Harris. “Her record is extraordinarily radical. Let me say at the outset, Kamala can’t have my guns, she can’t have my gasoline engine, and she sure as hell can’t have my steaks and cheeseburgers,” Cruz told Fox News. Sean Hannity.
Ted Cruz: “Kamala can’t have my guns. She can’t have my gasoline engine. And she sure as hell can’t have my steaks and cheeseburgers.” pic.twitter.com/xftAEbQfmu
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 25, 2024
