WESTERN PRODUCER — In the last week of April, the United Nations released a major report on the benefits of consuming milk, eggs and meat.
Experts with the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) looked at 500 scientific papers and 250 policy documents. After reviewing all the data and studies, they published a report with a clear and concise message.
“Meat, eggs and milk offer crucial sources of much-needed nutrients which cannot easily be obtained from plant-based foods,” the FAO said April 25.
The FAO, in a news release, explained that meat, milk and eggs provide essential macro nutrients such as like protein, fats and carbohydrates.
They also deliver important micronutrients.
“High quality protein, a number of essential fatty-acids, iron, calcium, zinc, selenium, Vitamin B12, choline and bioactive compounds like carnitine, creatine, taurine are provided by foods from terrestrial animals and have important health and developmental functions.”
The FAO report was balanced. The 296 page document and the news release said livestock can be an environmental hazard, causing deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions and pollution of waterways.
Nonetheless, as a journalist who scans and reads dozens of scientific reports every year, it’s unusual to see a document where the conclusion is so definite.
Eating meat, dairy and eggs is good for human health, especially for people who live in poorer countries.
“Iron and vitamin A are among the most common micronutrient deficiencies around the world, particularly in children and pregnant women,” says a UN News story on the study.
“More than one in two preschool children (some 372 million) and 1.2 billion women of child-bearing age … suffer from the lack of at least one of three micronutrients: iron, vitamin A or zinc.”
UN News also directed its comments at wealthy countries, where a growing number of people are choosing vegan or pescatarian diets.
Meat, eggs and milk can provide a range of important macro-nutrients and micronutrients that are hard to find in plants “in the required quality and quantity,” UN News said.
“This is particularly vital during key life stages such as pregnancy and lactation, childhood, adolescence and older age.”
Where is the media coverage?
Normally, when the UN issues a newsworthy report on diet and human health, the media picks up on the story. Millions of readers and TV watchers are fascinated with food. Everyone eats and nearly everyone has an opinion on what’s healthy and what is not.
But major media outlets ignored the FAO report on milk, meat and eggs.
CBC News: nothing.
CTV News: no story.
New York Times, the Globe & Mail, Washington Post: nothing.
The Guardian, a leading newspaper in England, did publish a story on the FAO report, but only on its website in Nigeria.
The omissions are surprising, especially in this country, since revisions to the Canada Food Guide were a massive controversy in 2019.
The updated Food Guide emphasized plant-based foods and advised Canadians to consume less milk and meat.
The livestock sector pushed back against the guide, saying it wasn’t based on reliable science.
“(It will) de-emphasize the scientifically proven nutritional value and health benefits of dairy products by eliminating the Milk and Alternatives group and actively advocating that Canadians shift towards consuming more plant-based sources of protein,” Dairy Farmers of Canada said in January 2019.
The FAO, in its report, mentioned the need for national guidelines on the value of milk, meat and eggs.
It said the “FAO’s Committee on Agriculture Sub-Committee on Livestock encouraged governments to update national dietary guidelines to consider … how meat, eggs and milk can contribute to specific nutrient requirements during the life course of humans.”
For whatever reason, journalists at major media organizations in Canada didn’t notice the FAO report.
Meanwhile, the Globe & Mail and other outlets continue to pump out content on how and why we should eat plant protein, and why livestock are killing the planet.
A cynic might say that urban journalists and media companies have an agenda to change how food is produced and to alter what Canadians eat.
In this instance, I cannot argue with that cynic.
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