As the government dictates what makes up a healthy diet, groups that have a stake in the outcome will lobby. That’s food politics for you. Recently, the North American Meat Institute, the trade association for the meat and poultry industry, took issue with the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s proposed changes to the government’s definition of a healthy diet because it cut out meat in an effort to stop global warming. So the institute started a petition on Change.org. “We believe the dietitians and nutritionists who make up the Committee overstepped their bounds by not focusing on nutrition and instead wandering into environmental issues,” the petition reads. “In fact, we believe that processed meat products are sustainable because they limit spoilage and waste.” NAMI has a reason to worry. The dietary guidelines guide the food policies of the nation, including what food to tax, and what is slopped onto school lunch trays. Furthermore, make no mistake that the government has launched a cold war against red meat. Just this week, the Environmental Agency announced that it is taking aim at the meat-lovers Mecca – the backyard barbecue. They create air pollution, the EPA claims, so it has funded a study at the University of California that studies how to design a low-emission grill. Doesn’t the future sound full of promise?