Bay Shore Wellness Alliance

Choose My Plate – United States Department of Agriculture

First Lady, Agriculture Secretary Launch MyPlate Icon as a New Reminder to Help Consumers to Make Healthier Food Choices

WASHINGTON, June 2, 2011 – First Lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today unveiled the federal government’s new food icon, MyPlate, to serve as a reminder to help consumers make healthier food choices. MyPlate is a new generation icon with the intent to prompt consumers to think about building a healthy plate at meal times and to seek more information to help them do that by going to www.ChooseMyPlate.gov. The new MyPlate icon emphasizes the fruit, vegetable, grains, protein and dairy food groups.

“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 First Lady Michelle 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.”

“With so many food options available to consumers, it is often difficult to determine the best foods to put on our plates when building a healthy meal,” said Secretary Vilsack. “MyPlate is an uncomplicated symbol to help remind people to think about their food choices in order to lead healthier lifestyles. This effort is about more than just giving information, it is a matter of making people understand there are options and practical ways to apply them to their daily lives.”

Originally identified in the Child Obesity Task Force report which noted that simple, actionable advice for consumers is needed, MyPlate will replace the MyPyramid image as the government’s primary food group symbol as an easy-to-understand visual cue to help consumers adopt healthy eating habits consistent with the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. MyPyramid will remain available to interested health professionals and nutrition educators in a special section of the new website.

ChooseMyPlate.gov provides practical information to individuals, health professionals, nutrition educators, and the food industry to help consumers build healthier diets with resources and tools for dietary assessment, nutrition education, and other user-friendly nutrition information. As Americans are experiencing epidemic rates of overweight and obesity, the online resources and tools can empower people to make healthier food choices for themselves, their families, and their children. Later this year, USDA will unveil an exciting “go-to” online tool that consumers can use to personalize and manage their dietary and physical activity choices.Over the next several years, USDA will work with First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’sMove! initiative and public and private partners to promote MyPlate and ChooseMyPlate.gov as well as the supporting nutrition messages and “how-to” resources.

The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, launched in January of this year, form the basis of the federal government’s nutrition education programs, federal nutrition assistance programs, and dietary advice provided by health and nutrition professionals. The Guidelines messages include:

Balance Calories

•Enjoy your food, but eat less. •Avoid oversized portions.

Foods to Increase

• • •

Make half your plate fruits and vegetables. Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk. Make at least half your grains whole grains

Foods to Reduce

•Compare sodium (salt) in foods like soup, bread, and frozen meals, and choose foods with lower numbers.

•Drink water instead of sugary drinks.

Coupled with these tested, actionable messages will be the “how-tos” for consumer behavior change. A multi-year campaign calendar will focus on one action-prompting message at a time starting with “Make Half Your Plate Fruits and Vegetables.”

“What we have learned over the years is that consumers are bombarded by so many nutrition messages that it makes it difficult to focus on changes that are necessary to improve their diet,” said Secretary Vilsack. “This new campaign calendar will help unify the public and private sectors to coordinate efforts and highlight one desired change for consumers at a time.”

What foods are in the Vegetable Group?

Any vegetable or 100% vegetable juice counts as a member of the Vegetable Group. Vegetables may be raw or cooked; fresh, frozen, canned, or dried/dehydrated; and may be whole, cut-up, or mashed.

Vegetables are organized into 5 subgroups, based on their nutrient content. Some commonly eaten vegetables in each subgroup are:

Dark green vegetables

bok choy

broccoli

collard greens

dark green leafy lettuce

kale

mesclun

mustard greens

romaine lettuce

spinach

turnip greens

watercress

Red & orange vegetables

acorn squash

butternut squash

carrots

hubbard squash

pumpkin

red peppers

sweet potatoes

tomatoes

tomato juice

Beans and peas*

black beans

black-eyed peas (mature, dry)

garbanzo beans (chickpeas)

kidney beans

lentils

navy beans

pinto beans

soy beans

split peas

white beans

Starchy vegetables

cassava

corn

fresh cowpeas, field peas, or black-eyed peas (not dry)

green bananas

green peas

green lima beans

plantains

potatoes

taro

water chestnuts

Other vegetables

artichokes

asparagus

avocado

bean sprouts

beets

Brussels sprouts

cabbage

cauliflower

celery

cucumbers

eggplant

green beans

green peppers

iceberg (head) lettuce

mushrooms

okra

onions

parsnips

turnips

wax beans

zucchini

* For more information on Beans and Peas, see Beans and Peas Are Unique Foods.

Key Consumer Message: Make half your plate fruits and vegetables.

Source (www.choosemyplate.gov)