By ANN ALLEN
Indiana Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The venerable food pyramid, established in 1992 and updated in 2005, toppled last week thanks to the USDA and First Lady Michelle Obama, who replaced it with a leaner, healthier icon – MyPlate – that puts more emphasis on the importance of vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy and protein in diets.

The plate, a colorful pie chart, eliminates the fats, oils and sweets that topped the pyramid, but while they aren’t shown, clicking on individual food groups at the website www.choosemyplate.gov leads to information about them and how to limit them in daily meals.

The USDA spent $2 million to design and promote the plate that incorporates seven key dietary messages: enjoy food but eat less, avoid oversized portions, make half your plate fruits and vegetables, drink water instead of sugary drinks, make at least half your grains whole grains, switch to fat-free or low-fat milk and choose foods with low sodium.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack hailed the new MyPlate icon as an uncomplicated symbol to remind people to think about their food choices in order to lead healthier lifestyles, while Surgeon General Regina M. Benjamin described it as simple and easy to understand.

“This is a quick, simple reminder for all of us to be more mindful of the foods that we’re eating and as a mom, I can already tell how much this is going to help parents across the country,” said Obama. “When Mom or Dad comes home from a long day of work, we’re already asked to be a chef, a referee, a cleaning crew. So it’s tough to be a nutritionist, too.

“But we do have time to take a look at our kids’ plates. As long as they’re half full of fruits and vegetables, and paired with lean proteins, whole grains and low-fat dairy, we’re golden. That’s how easy it is.”

Over the next several years, the USDA will work with her Let’s Move! initiative and public and private partners in promoting My Plate and ChooseMyPlate.gov along with supporting nutrition messages and how-to resources.
It didn’t take long for online consumers to weigh in on MyPlate and to split a calorie or two. “I think it’s a good idea to abandon the pyramid in favor of a plate,” wrote one, “but they forgot to include healthy fats like nuts/seeds, avocado and olive oil. Processed fats like commercial mayonnaise, canola oil and soybean are the ones to avoid.”

Others noted the ultimate responsibility for healthy eating belongs to the individual, not to government guidelines. Another was flabbergasted that $2 million was spent on the new logo and wondered how many homeless people could have been fed. “If you could teach common sense,” he wrote, “you’d be on to something.”

For the most part, however, representatives of major agricultural entities applauded MyPlate. The grain industry hosted a Thursday farm-to-fork grain chain press conference that resulted in members of bakers, wheat, pasta and rice grower associations applauding the icon’s inclusion of six grain servings a day.

That, however, also prompted a non-member to observe that anyone eating that much bread a week would gain weight.

National Cattlemen’s Beef Assoc. President Bill Donald said, “In around 150 calories, one three-ounce serving of lean beef gives consumers ‘more bang for their calorie buck.’ Consumers need to know that lean beef supplies nearly half of their daily value for protein, as well as nine other essential nutrients, including zinc, iron and Vitamin B12.

“The MyPlate icon makes it easy for consumers to enjoy lean beef, while meeting the recommendation to fill half of their plate with fruits and vegetables.” Others were quick to note that protein did not necessarily indicate meat.

The dairy industry, represented by a glass-shaped orb next to the plate, also hailed the new icon, while Lindsay Beyerstein sounded a dissident voice in a “Focal Point” blog by noting that many adults can’t digest milk. She sees dairy, including milk, cheese, yogurt or ice cream, as optional since it is off the plate.
Beyerstein, calling My Plate a product of heavy lobbying, titled her blog “Dairy Industry Milks New MyPlate.”

In an online response to the CBS announcement of MyPlate, a reader signing him- or herself as “Pappawtom” wrote, in part, “Healthy weight is something that you have to work at to achieve and maintain. NO food is bad for you in the right quantities and frequency,” while “Crcan” denounced all sugars but said agricultural conglomerates would not permit limitation.

“When they put guidelines on sugar, I’ll take them seriously,” he wrote.
And so MyPlate moves into the cupboards of America, bringing with it praise and criticism as it settles into the space once occupied by a pyramid.