The inverted food pyramid and meat influencers

Translated by Jennifer Di Giacomo

The new dietary guidelines issued by the Trump administration with regard to the food pyramid signal a significant shift compared to previous recommendations.
This change likely both reflects and fuels new eating habits, particularly those linked to increased consumption of meat, fish, and animal-derived products.

The new food pyramid promoted by Trump administration has in fact been described as an “inverted” pyramid. Visually, the chart appears as an upside-down pyramid. The very choice of this design therefore seems to encourage U.S. consumers to make a substantial change in their dietary choices and to question what they had previously been advised in terms of health and nutrition.

The traditional food pyramid, by contrast, recommends frequent consumption not only of fruit and vegetables, but also of bread, potatoes, cereals, rice, and legumes, while advising moderation in the intake of fish, eggs, cheese, and especially red meat.

The dietary guidelines proposed by Trump administration, on the other hand, encourage high consumption of meat—both white and red—as well as eggs and dairy products, while discouraging the intake of carbohydrates such as rice and white bread. Frequent portions of fruit and vegetables continue to be recommended.

This inversion of the food pyramid is justified by Trump administration as an invitation to eat “real food,” as stated by R.F. Kennedy Jr., and above all to consume more protein.

Trump administration’s recommendations appear to reflect (and likely further intensify) new dietary trends that have become particularly popular on social media in recent months, promoting the consumption of excessive amounts of meat—often even raw—in order to favour “real food” over highly processed products.

These trends are driven by the so-called meat influencers, figures at the centre of a movement that initially gained popularity mainly in the United States but has rapidly spread to Europe as well.

Meat influencers promote a diet based almost exclusively on eggs, meat, and sometimes cheese and fruit, attributing to these foods increased physical and mental energy as well as greater muscle mass. These dietary choices are justified by meat influencers as symbols of a natural and primal lifestyle that avoids foods resulting from the advent of agriculture, such as cereals.

A particularly concerning aspect of this trend is the spread of videos showing the consumption of large quantities of raw meat—a behaviour strongly discouraged by numerous health agencies, since cooking meat is precisely what allows harmful microorganisms such as Salmonella and Escherichia coli to be neutralized.

Above all, excessive meat consumption (whether raw or cooked) has negative impacts both on human health and on the environment.
In particular, frequent consumption of red or processed meat is associated to a higher risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease. Moreover, the high levels of saturated fats found in steaks and processed meats are linked to an increased risk of breast and colorectal cancer.

From an environmental perspective, the livestock industry is one of the major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Foods that were previously recommended to be consumed in moderation now play a central role in Trump administration’s new guidelines. Meat, eggs, and dairy products are therefore also among the foods whose production has a negative impact on climate change.

The new guidelines and emerging dietary trends thus risk discouraging consumers from adopting healthier and more sustainable eating habits. The emphasis is placed on the need to consume large quantities of meat and eggs in order to increase protein intake, often without even considering the existence of plant-based protein sources—frequently recommended by nutritionists for their nutritional value—such as tempeh, tofu and seitan.

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