From the Environmental Working Group: Good Food on a Tight Budget

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Should dietary guidance advice encompass environmental issues?

The federal government's Dietary Guidelines for Americans document does address some issues beyond just diet, including both physical activity and food safety.  For a number of reasons, environmental issues are not yet included.

But several interesting efforts have gone further.

A classic source is the 1986 article "Dietary Guidelines for Sustainability," by Joan Dye Gussow and Kate Clancy (may be gated).

One more recent resource, which incorporates environmental issues into a dietary guidance graphic akin to MyPyramid or MyPlate is the Barilla Double Pyramid: "Good for you, sustainable for the planet."

Another resource, from Fall 2012, is the "Good Food on a Tight Budget" guidance from the Environmental Working Group.  In this video, EWG's Dawn Undurraga -- a Friedman School alum and former U.S. food policy student -- explains how the guide combines both diet and nutrition issues.

The most droll line in the video comes from a chef, who said (unless I misheard it!): "Income is not consistent with my life right now."