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Harvest Public Media is a reporting collaboration focused on issues of food, fuel and field. Based at KCUR in Kansas City, Missouri, Harvest covers agriculture-related topics through a network of reporters and partner stations throughout the Midwest.

Federal Dietary Guidelines A Win For Meat

Robert Couse-Baker, flickr Creative Commons

New federal guidelines for healthy eating announced Thursday delivers a big win to Midwest meat farmers and ranchers.

Initial recommendations by scientific advisors suggested Americans could be more environmentally friendly by cutting back on meat. Although the final recommendations propose teenage and adult men reduce their intake of protein, there is no specific request to eat less meat.

"There’s plenty of evidence that what happened was strong pushback from the meat industry as well as allies in Congress for USDA not to do exactly what the science advisors had said," says David Wallinga, the senior health officer at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Meat industry groups like the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association maintain lean meat can be part of a healthy diet.

Kristofor Husted is a senior reporter at KBIA in Columbia, Mo. Previously Husted reported for NPR’s Science Desk in Washington and Harvest Public Media. Husted was a 2013 fellow with the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources and a 2015 fellow for the Institute for Journalism and Justice. He’s won regional and national Edward R. Murrow, PRNDI and Sigma Delta Chi awards. Husted also is an instructor at the Missouri School of Journalism. He received a B.S. in cell biology from UC Davis and an M.S. in journalism from Northwestern University.