We all grew up learning about the Food Guide Pyramid, remember that thing? I distinctly remember having school quizzes on the foods that belonged at each level, and the numbers for each. Fast forward a couple of decades, and the USDA has released an updated version of the Food Guide, and this time around, it's in the shape of a plate.
At first glance, the logo seems cartoon-ish and simplistic, but the more I look at it, the more I really like it. The graphic makes it so easy to visually portion out meals to fit. And I really like that it recommends that half my plate be filled with fruits and veggies. Lately, I've been trying to eat less meat, so that there's room for more fruit and veggies in my diet. It's not a huge transition for me, but Bo certainly does not like the idea of less meat. And that blue "Dairy" piece up in the corner is something I do not have in my diet at all. I'll just have to picture it tan-colored so that I can replace it with my calcium fortified almond milk.
What do you think about the new food guide? Easy? Fantastic? Plain silly? Did any of you ever plan your meals according to the old pyramid? (I never did!)
I'm old enough to remember the plan before the food pyramid. It was called 4-4-3-2 (4 bread & cereal, 4 fruits & veg, 3 dairy, 2 protein daily) and it was from a 4-H sponsored TV series called Mulligan Stew. Compared to that, the Food Pyramid was kind of complicated.
ReplyDeleteMy Plate is once again simple. I think simple is good when it comes to this kind of thing. Much easier to use this to plan meals than it was to use the pyramid. I always had it in the back of my mind, but didn't stick to it very well.
I like it....looks easy enough to explain to my son at an early age
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