Suit happy

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has proposed an interesting idea. The group, an outshoot of the activist group PETA, wants the U.S. Department of Agriculture to promote the PCRM’s version of MyPryamid, which it calls The Power Plate.

As you might suspect, the Power Plate is designed to promote a meatless diet. The Power Plate advocates eating fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes. With the Power Plate, portion sizes and percentages are irrelevant; PCRM says only that people should eat a variety of these four food groups.

As you might also suspect, the PCRM believes its version of the food pyramid is superior to the USDA’s. PCRM’s nutrition education director, Susan Levin, R.D., says MyPryamid is confusing. “Research shows the Power Plate is a better choice, and it’s simple enough that a child could follow it,” says Levin.

I have no problem with PCRM championing the Power Plate, even though I think it is simplistic and doesn’t address the fact that the biggest problem with a vegetarian diet is that followers tend not to consume enough proteins. People following any diet need to have as much information as possible to make correct choices, and the Power Plate doesn’t really provide that.

What I do have a problem with is the method by which PCRM is trying to make its point. The group has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. In addition to the USDA, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is named as a plaintiff.

The suit has been filed to try to force the federal government to abandon the food pyramid in favor of PCRM’s Power Plate. The suit alleges that the current pyramid is contributing to obesity and health problems.

“We are asking the government to protect the average American, not special agribusiness interests,” Levin was quoted in the Orlando Sentinel.

So PCRM will cost taxpayers money in the form of court costs in a fight it can’t win, to make a point about Americans’ health. All the way, it ignores a central point: the food pyramid doesn’t protect Americans, it simply guides them. And most Americans who suffer from obesity or health problems like obesity have gotten that way because they don’t even bother to pay lip service to any food pyramid.

But PETA and its various offshoots aren’t interested in education. They’re interested in antagonism. They believe that they can force people into a meatless lifestyle through bans and government fiat, despite all the historical evidence that proves such efforts never work in the long run.

There are many good points raised by PETA, PCRM and other activist groups, points that could sway people over time if they would take time to present them intelligently and convincingly. Too bad they aren’t willing to take such an approach.