USDA’s MyPlate is Pretty But Unhelpful

COMMENTARY | In an attempt to simplify dietary guidelines, the USDA replaced the food pyramid with a round icon called MyPlate. The plate image is straightforward, but it has many shortcomings and is not an adequate replacement for the food pyramid.

The MyPlate colors are arbitrary and confusing — protein is purple — like the now-defunct color-coded Homeland Security Advisory System. The basic design emphasizes plate quadrants instead of conveying total daily servings or portion control. It is completely irrelevant to my meal preparation.

What about Portion Control?

In a morning press conference, Michelle Obama extolled MyPlate’s virtues for parents who “don’t have the time to measure out three ounces of chicken or to look up how much rice or broccoli is in a serving,” reports the New York Times.

Gauging portions is not that difficult. Package labels and topical tips make it easy to estimate portions without using a scale or measuring cup. For example, Dr. Rovenia Brock recommends that a serving of grains should look like half of a baseball.

Learning how to gauge portions is an important skill we need, especially when dining out. MyPlate does nothing to support this goal.

Extreme Makeover’s Extreme Cost

According to The New York Times, the USDA will spend approximately $2 million publicizing the campaign, conducting research and focus groups and developing the logo and website. With all the news of government budget woes and teacher layoffs, it is hard to understand why we are spending so much money on a pie chart.

Those funds could impart nutritional awareness by funding summer feeding programs, community gardens and outreach programs.

Hey, Remember the 1990s?

One of the last incarnations of the food pyramid features confusing vertical slivers and doubles as a stair machine to remind us to exercise. It conveys little information and looks like an exotic scout badge. The ’90s version of the food pyramid is more useful than its later incarnation and the new MyPlate icon.

The food pyramid shows guidelines for one day rather than suggesting people fulfill the same food categories in equal parts throughout the day. This makes sense because the information empowers people to tailor their dining selections instead of arbitrarily loading their plates to match a Technicolor circle.

However, seeing lower-quality foods, such as sugar, near the pinnacle can mistakenly convey a higher priority on those foods. A quick makeover resolves the pyramid’s shortcomings.

Invert the pyramid so the most important foods are at the top. Rework the terminology to reflect broader food groups, such as protein instead of meat. Add simple shading or color coding to reinforce the guidelines. For example, the tiers can reflect a stoplight and shift from green to yellow to red.

A simple icon cannot undo decades of growing portion sizes and unhealthy habits, but MyPlate seems like a colossal waste of money. Busy or not, we have to spend some time learning about nutrition and portion control. Otherwise, we cannot manage our food options.

Sources

Dr. Rovenia Brock, “Take Control (of Your Portions),” The Dr. Oz Show

William Neuman, “Goodbye Food Pyramid, Hello Dinner Plate,” “The New York Times