USDA Pyramid Schemes, Six Years Later

The bright folks at the US Department of Agriculture have labored mightily and laid an egg.

Six years ago--the blink of an eye, the rumble of an overfed tummy, but still, over 2,000 square meals ago--they released a confusing striped food pyramid to replace the layered, 1992 original, and they added a stick figure climbing stairs to suggest that exercise was a good idea.

Now, in a stroke of revisionist history, the USDA site "MyPyramid.gov" resolves to "ChooseMyPlate.gov." (It sounds like something Network Solutions suggests when the domain name you want isn't available.) But is the plate any smarter than the pyramid? It's not a pie chart (that would be too cute), but does it make sese? Is it at all helpful?

Ask 100 people on the sidwalk "what's a protein?" and I'll bet you get 50 answers, few of them correct. Ask 100 shoppers in the grocery store to point you toward "the protein," I'll bet you get fewer than 10 right answers, even from people who work there. "Protein" is too vague a term to be useful.

Consider the USDA's own language:

Dry beans and peas can be counted either in the Vegetable Group (dry beans and peas subgroup) or in the Protein Foods Group (formerly called the Meat and Beans Group), or in both groups. Generally, individuals who regularly eat meat, poultry, and fish would count dry beans and peas in the Vegetable Group. Individuals who seldom or never eat meat, poultry, or fish (vegetarians and vegans ) would first count the dry beans and peas they eat in the Protein Foods Group, and then any remaining would be counted in the Vegetable Group.

That's supposed to be useful advice! What about someone who drinks a "protein shake"? And what about the protein in dairy products? (More serious stuff here.) It's too early to predict the howls from parties whose oxen are gored by the advice to eat less food, but I, for one, am already fed up.