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Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day for May 28, 2019
The Number of the Day columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
May 28, 2019: In 1975, Americans consumed an average of 247 pounds of whole milk per year. By 2017, that had fallen 40% to 149 pounds per person.[1]
A portion of that decline can be attributed to the rise of alternative milk products. They currently make up about 8% of milk sales.[1]
But as stated in my most recent book, the primary cause was that “in 1977 the federal government began aggressively steering Americans away from whole milk.”[2] The government acted in the belief that it would lead to a healthier diet, but things didn’t work out as expected.
The process was described in my book, The Sun Is Still Rising: Politics Has Failed, America Will Not:
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A massive propaganda campaign was launched and whole milk was banned in school lunch programs. All this disruption was done at high cost in the belief that it would reduce heart disease. Reducing heart disease was a noble goal. Who could object? In fact, most Americans signed up for the campaign. At one level, it was a success—sales of low-fat milk soared while sales of whole milk plummeted. But it didn’t produce the expected health benefits. As time went on research failed to confirm that ‘this massive shift in eating habits has made anyone healthier.’ Even worse, the Washington Post reported, ‘millions might have been better off had they stuck with whole milk.’ Contrary to what the government bureaucrats expected, ‘people who consumed more milk fat had lower incidences of heart disease.’ The ‘campaign to reduce fat in the diet has had some pretty disastrous consequences,’ according to Walter Willett, dean of the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health. University of Texas professor Marcia Ott added, ‘What we have learned over the last decade is that certain foods that are high in fat seem to be beneficial.’[3] |
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Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology.
- May 27, 2019 – 49 percent of Americans consider Memorial Day one of our most important holidays
- May 24, 2019 – 71 percent of Americans consider Memorial Day weekend the unofficial start of summer
- May 23, 2019 – 748,746 immigrants legally entered the U.S. based on family ties
- May 22, 2019 – 43 percent of voters would take a trip to the moon
- May 21, 2019 – 37 percent of voters believe NASA will send people to the moon before private companies
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Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
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See also
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Statista, "Milk's Massive American Decline," May 13, 2019
- ↑ Rasmussen, S. (2018). The Sun is Still Rising: Politics Has Failed But America Will Not. Salt Lake City, UT: Sutherland Institute.
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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