Comments on: Whose Food Pyramid Is It Anyway?

By: School Menu Trends - ‘A’ For Effort? | Mark's Daily Apple

School Menu Trends - ‘A’ For Effort? | Mark's Daily Apple — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:17:44 +0000

[...] there more recent data available? I mean, even the U.S. Department of Agriculture has updated its food pyramid since 1946 (but please, don’t even get us started on those [...]

By: Mark’s Daily Apple » Blog Archive » Study Finds Low-Carb, High-Protein, High-Fat Diet Associated with Lowered Diabetes Risk

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 18:37:59 +0000

[...] Whose Food Pyramid is it Anyway? [...]

By: Mark’s Daily Apple » Blog Archive » Diet Soda Might Increase Risk of Metabolic Syndrome

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:52:51 +0000

[...] no circumstances, be considered a healthy diet (and don’t even get us started on the USDA food pyramid – 6-11 servings of grain per day? Are they [...]

By: Mark’s Daily Apple » Blog Archive » Dear Mark: Pregnancy Diet Tips for Inquiring Minds

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 21:16:37 +0000

[...] Thanks, and let me first say that my comments shouldn’t stand in for the professional advice of your doctor or midwife. (He or she should know details of your medical and pregnancy history that I wouldn’t be privy to.) Nonetheless, I know pregnant women are more often than not, with the exception of a prenatal vitamin, advised to follow the standard diet that the establishment suggests for all of us. (And, yes, you all know how I feel about that pyramid of hooey.) [...]

By: Daniel

Daniel — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 06:46:05 +0000

I don’t think the grain industry is any more powerful, compelling and convincing than the meat industry. They both have identical financial interests and they both would poison and kill many of us if that meant more power and money for them.
So in the food industry everyone is a villan whether they promote grain food and bread or meat and cheese, there’s no hero just a bunch of unscrupulous and greedy institutions.

By: Susanne

Susanne — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 13:43:13 +0000

Just for shits and giggles ~ if you look in the bottom corner of the ‘regulated food pyramid’, you’ll find that it is published by the NATIONAL DAIRY ASSOCIATION!!!!! They aren’t TOO biased, huh? My kids can’t eat dairy, it causes all kinds of congestion, ear infections, etc, etc., but not once did their regular doctor take them off of it ~ and they were even BOTH diagnosed w/Asthma! Yet, after getting them blood tests against 115 different kinds of food, both of their triggers were DAIRY ~ among other things. I had to take them to an ALTERNATIVE DOCTOR to gain this info, and pay a lot of money to boot, but it was worth it!! I now put my money into the food (organic, no refined sugars, no dyes, and no dairy, or very little dairy), instead of into the doctor’s pockets or towards buying medicines that only make them worse, and cause other problems!! I’ve been doing this for over 3 yrs, and it is working great!! My kids now only go to the doctor’s for well visits or if they get hurt.

By: LabRat

LabRat — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 02:46:59 +0000

I believe public health is part of the government’s responsibility- up to a point. That point is regulating food to make sure it won’t poison consumers through more direct means of contamination, enforcing vaccination laws for schoolchildren, and tracking down epidemics- areas where the medicine is clear-cut and even bureaucracy can’t screw it up *too* badly.

Nutrition, though? This is the same organization that couldn’t competently run the Post Office. Nutrition science is a field even the well-educated need a machete for, let alone bureaucrats.

By: Jeremiah Reid

Jeremiah Reid — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 01:58:53 +0000

Does anyone pay attention to the food pyramid?

I think they do. Even if people don’t go directly to the government for the guidelines, the food pyramid will be referenced in many other places. If you take a nutrition class for instance, it’s likely that the text book will display the food pyramid and probably won’t stray too far from its recommendations.

Do people then follow those recommendations?

I think people look at the pyramid as what they “should” eat. They might not follow it all the time, but they could still recognize what they “should” be eating.

The problem with this is that if the pyramid tells them that they can and even need to eat sugar, dairy, and grains, then when they do eat these foods they feel like they are eating well. And they can use that as an excuse to eat poorly in other areas. Foods which are pretty much garbage actually seem reasonable according to the pyramid; pizza is probably the best example (it has all the food groups right?).

The truth is that no one follows dietary guidelines 100%. The typical person will considerably overestimate portion sizes and underestimate nutritional content. Combine this with guidelines that are inherently flawed (telling you that you have to eat foods that shouldn’t be consumed in the first place) and you have the recipe for a nutritional disaster.

By: Sonagi

Sonagi — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 01:41:54 +0000

Seems the other way around to me: Big Agra has an express interest in promoting cheap, unhealthy foods such as cereal and bread, and the government is simply the acquiescent mouthpiece.

Mark, my friend, government is no mere acquiescent mouthpiece but a financier of the diet that is debilitating and killing us. Libertarian arguments about personal choice seem to ignore that fact that government is already disrupting the free market through enormous agricultural subsidies.

Moreover, our laws distinguish minors from adults and provide special protections for children. We live in a country where TV broadcasters are fined for flashing nipples and uttering cuss words, yet laws restricting advertising aimed at children are “un-American.” “Schools need to teach kids to make smart choices. Parents need to learn to say no.” Yeah, right. That is why the Good Book counsels us, “Lead me not into temptation…”

By: Dave C.

Dave C. — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 00:58:36 +0000

I should have taken out my camera phone today while I ate lunch with my grandson. I’ve been eating at school cafeterias 1-2 times a week for seven years. Today when I looked at what my grandson was eating and what the girl across the table was eating, I had to shake my head. Words can’t compare to the impact a picture would have had, but I’ll take a shot. One one corner of her tray, the young girl had a very small plastic container with some plain, shredded, iceberg lettuce. In the other corner was another small plastic container with some dark colored corn. There was also a mall piece of cake with some icing. And last (but least) was this big, square glob of what I call “industrial pizza.” The whole thing looked terribly unappetizing.

My grandson and I shared the same meal. A salad containing spinach, olives, banana peppers, cucumbers, bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, and tuna fish. I asked him if he would rather be eating that pizza, and his answer warmed Grandpa’s heart: “Heck No!”