As of June 2, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and First Lady Michelle Obama unveiled the federal government’s new food icon: My Plate. Gone is the food pyramid from 1995 and even its more modern descendant, “My Pyramid,” which displayed the concepts of variety, moderation and proportion in vertical color coding (rather than stacked groups).
The food guide is not by any means a new concept. The earliest form came in the shape of a wheel in 1916 and was meant to help consumers make wise food decisions for children and their families.
My Plate, however, is not just a color-coded icon to remind us that we need to eat balanced, healthy meals. Millions of dollars – 2 million to be precise – have been invested in the research, development, and complementing tools found on the website: www.choosemyplate.gov.
This effort is the government’s response to the Child Obesity Task Force report, “which noted that simple, actionable advice for consumers [was] needed [. . .] to help adopt healthy eating habits consistent with the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans,” according to USDA.
Like this edition of Central Florida Health News, the aim of the website is to provide nutritional information everyone can use in order to improve one’s health and quality of life. I hope you find the nutritional insight in this magazine useful in aiding you to eat and live healthy.