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Christopher Gardner, a committee member and professor of medicine at Stanford, told Sentient Media that after submitting the report, he and his colleagues were \u201ccompletely ghosted\u201d by the Department of Health and Human Services. \u201cNo one will tell us the name of a person who\u2019s working on it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a black box. We have no idea.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why beans were poised for a promotion<\/p>\n
Beans aren\u2019t just a side dish\u2014they\u2019re nutrient workhorses. The committee\u2019s 2024 report explained that Americans fall short on fiber far more than protein<\/a>. Nearly three-quarters of the population doesn\u2019t get enough fiber, but only a small percentage lacks protein. That\u2019s why the panel wanted legumes\u2014beans, peas, and lentils\u2014to have a bigger role in official recommendations.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen they go for the meat, they\u2019re getting no fiber,\u201d Gardner explained to Sentient Media.<\/p>\n By contrast, beans deliver both protein and fiber, along with iron, folate, and a host of micronutrients. The health science is clear: swapping red or processed meats for legumes is linked to lower risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and even early death.<\/p>\n The committee\u2019s suggestion also aligned with climate goals. Our World in Data shows beef generates more than six times the greenhouse gas emissions of beans on a per-gram-protein basis. Legumes also use far less land and water, making them one of the most sustainable proteins on the planet.<\/p>\n Kennedy\u2019s rejection<\/p>\n Instead of leaning on that science, Kennedy has said he will start from scratch. He described the committee\u2019s document as \u201cunreadable\u201d and \u201ca political document.\u201d According to Food Fix<\/a>, one of his advisers even called it \u201ca 453-page document that looks like it was written by the food processing industry.\u201d<\/p>\n RELATED: The Plant-Powered Future of American Nutrition? Inside the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Shift<\/a><\/p>\n Why the pushback? Gardner suspects it\u2019s because the panel didn\u2019t explicitly tell Americans to stop eating\u00a0ultra-processed foods (UPFs)<\/a>. Kennedy has made attacking UPFs\u2014from seed oils<\/a> to tomato sauces with added sugar\u2014a personal crusade. But Gardner told Sentient Media that operationalizing a ban on UPFs is harder than it sounds, especially in schools. \u201cYou could take the high fructose corn syrup out [of tomato sauce], and there are tomato sauces without that. But they cost twice as much, and the schools wouldn\u2019t be able to afford them,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n What\u2019s at stake for school lunch and SNAP<\/p>\n The Dietary Guidelines for Americans dictate more than $40 billion in federal spending every year. That includes school meals and SNAP (food stamps). When beans are highlighted as protein sources, they get baked into lesson plans, cafeteria menus, and even grocery store SNAP nudges for low-income families.<\/p>\n A stronger bean message would have helped schools serve more black bean burritos or lentil chili while still meeting USDA protein targets. It would also have given SNAP-Ed programs more support to promote beans as an affordable, fiber-rich choice. If that message disappears from the final guidelines, it will be harder for agencies and retailers to justify those pushes.<\/p>\n The bean market is growing anyway<\/p>\n Even without policy support, beans are having a moment. USDA data shows per-capita dry bean availability rose 30 percent in 2024, climbing to 6.8 pounds per person as supplies of black, pinto, and kidney beans surged. Chickpea imports have also rebounded, fueling hummus and snack production.<\/p>\n Globally, pulses now top 100 million metric tons in consumption annually,\u00a0according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the United Nations\u2019 Food and Agriculture Organization<\/a>. That growth underscores consumer appetite for affordable, protein-rich, plant-based foods. Still, US policy signals matter: less promotion could mean less investment in bean-based innovation at home.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Kennedy is waging war on food dyes<\/p>\n While beans lose traction in Washington, DC, Kennedy\u2019s other food fight\u2014against artificial dyes\u2014is gaining traction. In April, the Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Agriculture praised the International Dairy Foods Association<\/a> for pledging to eliminate synthetic dyes like Red 40 and Yellow 5 across most US ice cream brands by 2028. Days later,\u00a0Kraft Heinz<\/a> said it would strip dyes from Kool-Aid, Jell-O, and Crystal Light by 2027. General Mills\u00a0and Nestl\u00e9 have announced similar timelines.<\/p>\n Kennedy argues these dyes are unsafe, pointing to research linking them to hyperactivity in children and, in the case of Red 3, to cancer in lab animals. The Food and Drug Administration banned Red 3 earlier this year, but the rest remain legal. Brands admit natural dyes are costlier and less stable, but public demand is forcing the transition.<\/p>\n The shorter guideline debate<\/p>\n Kennedy has also said the new guidelines will be only four pages long, compared to the 164-page 2020 edition. Gardner says brevity was never the issue. \u201cThere was plenty of material that was simple,\u201d he told Sentient Media, pointing to existing consumer summaries. What matters now, though, is whether those four pages will include\u2014or exclude\u2014the clear, science-based recommendation to eat more beans.<\/p>\n For more plant-based stories like this, read:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is throwing out the rulebook on America\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102002,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[49,48,84,395],"class_list":{"0":"post-102001","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-nutrition"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Getty<\/p>\n
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