Thursday, June 02, 2011

Goodbye Pyramid, Hello Plate

Here's the USDA's new icon to accompany their new 2010 Dietary Guidelines. It replaces all the pyramids:

MyPlate.gov

Praise? Criticism?

I like it. It reminds me of PCRM's (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) Power Plate. One word doesn't fit for me though: "protein." Fruits, vegetables, and grains are recognizable foods. Protein is an organic compound, a chemical. All food contains protein. Why would they do that?
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10 comments:

manu said...

is it just me or all the 'slices' look to be about the same size?

Bix said...

From PCRM's website:

"The protein portion of the USDA's MyPlate is unnecessary, because beans, whole grains, and vegetables are loaded with it."

http://www.pcrm.org/newsletter/jun11/usda_food_plate.html

Bix said...

The fruit slice looks a little smaller than the vegetable slice. Kind of like their old 3-5 servings of veg and 2-4 servings of fruit?

RB said...

I assume beans, lentils and nuts are hidden under vegetables. I think they should be given more prominence; their own place on the plate.

I as far as the protein portion goes, I assume it was some sort of political compromise between vegans and meat producers. If it would have been labeled meat, the vegans would scream. If it were labeled beans and lentils, the meat producers would scream.

Diary is also unnecessary. Europeans in their evolution had a gene expressed to keep them lactose tolerant after early childhood. Most mammal become lactose intolerant after being weaned. Even most adults, except those of European descent loose the ability to produce lactase and thus digest milk. see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactose_intolerance

Bix said...

I second everything you said, RB.

Laurie Endicott Thomas said...

What madness! The USDA is still urging us to eat the kinds of food that result in our main causes of death and disability:

http://wheredogorillasgettheirprotein.blogspot.com/2011/06/plates-not-much-better-than-pyramid.html

caulfieldkid said...

RB gets my vote too. How can I go against giving beans their own piece of the pie?

shaun

Angela said...

i like the plate, better than those boring numbers~

Manu said...

I remember the first time I saw the food pyramid as a kid (spanish one is pretty much the same as the american one) and I don't think it was confusing or hard to understand... in fact, just by looking at it, it's much easier to understand than this 'plate'... dairy sits in a cup? what's the meaning of this you should drink dairy at every meal like it was water? where do you fit something like nuts or avocados? where's the slice for fats?

Why don't they simply fix the pyramid, fill the base with vegetables and then grains, fruits, and so on

caulfieldkid said...

Here is another version(s) of the pyramid. At the very least, they are interesting to look at.