Tom Riner

For decades, billion-dollar corporate giants in the food industry successfully lobbied the U.S. Congress to suppress not only constructive action, but also scientific knowledge about the dangers of overconsumption of certain foods.

Publicizing certain nutritional dangers could have saved untold lives in Louisville and could have extended the lives of millions of other Americans had U.S. Senate hearings in 1977 not been hijacked by industry lobbyists.

Sen. George McGovern of South Dakota chaired the Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs that heard testimony that validated the need for our nation to shift toward a diet similar to the primarily plant-based diets of other nations not plagued by chronic diseases associated with high-cholesterol and high-fat sources of protein, and led them to make the following statement:

"Too much fat, too much sugar, or salt can be and are directly linked to heart disease, cancer, obesity, and stroke among other killer diseases. In all 6 of the 10 leading causes of death in the United States, they have been linked to our diet. Those of us in government have an obligation to acknowledge this."

However, by the end of the year, the language in the committee's official report supporting a healthier diet for Americans drafted by Chairman McGovern and his committee had not only been turned on its head by lobbyists for the salt, sugar, and dairy industries, but also the chairman was personally demonized and the committee itself was disbanded.

While lobbyists won a political game by changing the wording of the report, they lost the moral high ground by their brazen efforts to suppress scientific truths about the relationship of certain foods and chronic diseases. Through billion-dollar advertising campaigns, the corporate-biasing of academic research, and the corrupting of watchdog regulatory agencies, our knowledge of what is healthy to eat has been skewed.

Industry lobbying groups persuaded members of the Kentucky General Assembly to help "gut" HB 550 (sponsored by Speaker Greg Stumbo and myself in 2012) in order to remove provisions authorizing a pilot project documenting how a 10-day, primarily plant-based diet lowers the cholesterol and blood pressure of participants. Again in 2014, lobbyists worked to persuade most House members to vote against my simple finding-of-fact amendment to HR77 educating Kentuckians about healthier eating:

"Numerous scientific studies confirming that a whole foods diet comprised primarily of vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, and nuts, without added oil, sugar, and salt, is optimal for human health, not only preventing a broad range of diseases and illnesses, but also reversing some of the most dangerous chronic conditions. This finding is of the highest importance to the Commonwealth because it communicates truth that has the power to save lives."

After the House Speaker appointed me co-chair of the Task Force On Childhood Obesity in 2011, I invited the two doctors whose research persuaded former President Bill Clinton to adopt a diet based primarily on plants to address the task force's final meeting held in the House Chamber: T. Colin Campbell, PhD, author of "The China Study," and Caldwell Esselstyn, MD, author of "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease."

The two hours of "classroom-type" lectures on video can be viewed on KET at www.ket.org/legislature/archives.php by selecting "2011 Interim Session" and scrolling to "November 15 Task Force on Childhood Obesity." They are also featured in a high-quality, 90-minute documentary film, "Forks Over Knives," which for two years has remained a top-viewed documentary on Netflix and Amazon.com.

My wife, Claudia, and I met both doctors when they presented at a medical school nearly five years ago. We saw our total cholesterol drop approximately 50 points and our blood pressure drop about 25 points after one month of eating a more plant-based diet.

Dr. Campbell and his son, Nelson, will be featured in a new health documentary entitled "Plant Pure Nation" that includes film footage of the entire House floor debate on the merits of a primarily plant-based diet that took place at the Kentucky State Capitol in the March 2014 Session of the General Assembly. The trailer of this documentary can be viewed at PlantPureNation.com.

Rep. Tom Riner is a Democrat representing the 41st District. His email is RepTomRiner@gmail.com