Now, why do you suppose the government is trying to load us full of grains?
It's because they're secretly working for these guys:
Posted on 07/13/2004 10:47:31 AM PDT by weegee
WASHINGTON, July 12 - The Department of Agriculture announced plans on Monday to revisit the Food Guide Pyramid, an icon that was developed to help Americans use dietary guidelines to eat healthfully.
Introduced 12 years ago, after almost $1 million was spent debating the shape of what was supposed to be the government's primary nutrition education device, the pyramid has not accomplished its goal, the department acknowledges.
"We've got to reverse some trends," Eric Hentges, executive director of the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion at the Agriculture Department, said. "We've got to connect with individuals. We've got to be able to communicate the major message of what's appropriate for you."
The increasing number of overweight and obese Americans indicates that whatever the department has done in the past has not been successful.
The agency says that 80 percent of Americans recognize the pyramid, which shows fats, oils and sweets at its point, widening to grains and cereals at the base. But its research also indicates that few know what to do with the pyramid's information about appropriate serving sizes and numbers of servings.
"When the department did research on the pyramid, all it showed was that no one understood it," Dr. Marion Nestle, professor of food studies, nutrition and public health at New York University, said.
Industry and nutritionists agree that some form of the pyramid should remain, but with more of an educational component.
"I don't think the pyramid, of and by itself, is enough to educate consumers," Greg Miller, the senior vice president for nutrition and product innovation at the National Dairy Council, said.
The reassessment of the pyramid is being undertaken at the same time revisions are being made in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the federal nutrition policy, which are expected to be released in January. The pyramid and accompanying educational materials are supposed to translate those recommendations into the kinds and amounts of food people should eat each day.
It was a diet designed for active lifestyles but horrible for other people.
Now, why do you suppose the government is trying to load us full of grains?
It's because they're secretly working for these guys:
Finally. It took them long enough. The whole issue is yet another example of how "one size fits all" simply doesn't work.
thank you for not excerpting.
And horrible for people like me who have celiac (no wheat, rye or barley).
The food pyramid makes you fat, unless you are an endurance-type athlete (long-distance runner, swimmer, etc.). Otherwise, our bodies are not designed to take in that much in carbohydrates; they are designed for vegetables, meat, nuts, seeds, and high-fiber fruit, with the occasional whole grain.
Another waste of tax payers money.
You are right on the money!
The best diet is the Joan Rivers diet. You can eat whatever you want, you just can't swallow.
I used to sculpt my mashed potatoes into a "food pyramid"...
(Mom really hated that 8^)
Soylent Green is people!!!!
How about if the government focuses on protecting us from terrorists and lets We the People worry about what to eat ourselves?
Since when is it a proper function of government to dictate life styles? Why is it that people who think the feds can't tell us to avoid homosexual behavior, which is proven to be an unhealthy lifestyle choice, have no problem at all with the government telling us what to eat?
If national health care ever becomes fact (God forbid), then will the government be allowed to force us to exercise in order to keep the "social costs" of unhealthiness down?
JMHO
--The best diet is the Joan Rivers diet. You can eat whatever you want, you just can't swallow.--
I prefer the seafood diet, I see food, I eat it...
When are they going to list chocolate as a major food group??
Well they got everybody to quit smoking and carb out. They expected skinny?
But the color and direction it should point:
The problem isn't what the average American eats as much as what the average American DOES or DOESN'T do.
He/she rides to work, sits at a desk, rides home and parks in front of a computer terminal, television or DVD and thenm snacks all night.
Teddy Roosevelt knew what was the right - the ROUGH life!!
Very cool, not sure I'd seen that!
Dan
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