I don't like it. Dairy isn't a needed part of any meal (especially for those of us with food allergies) and I think it makes that harder. I should be having a giant hunk of cheese the size of whatever protein I'm eating at every meal, according to this chart. This also doesn't give any focus to plate size. If my plate is 12 by 12, I've certainly got a LOT of food on my plate but it's okay, the USDA said so. I don't get how the pyramid was difficult. Yes, people eat poorly due to education. But a lot of it is education on FOOD not serving. Stop people on the street and asking them for calcium rich foods and they'll stop after milk. Money plays a factor but so does access and time. Real food takes both.

I get we're a more "foodie" based audience here but this actually confuses me. Plus, any parent with "issues" eating healthy food is going to look at this and go, I'm sorry - you want me to make a protein AND veggies AND grains AND buy dairy AND buy fruit all for ONE meal? How much time do you think I have?

"Do you think this will change the way Americans eat?"

No. Does anybody really think it will?

As previously mentioned, this doesn't address the issue of portion control. Though it's a good idea in theory, I don't think changing from a pyramid to a plate will have any significant impact on the eating habits of the average person.

I agree with serendipitwaddle 100%.

I never had issues with knowing about a portioned, balanced and healthy diet because I was educated by my parents - who by the way, grew up with different food guides.

This plate looks way too dumbed-down to the point where it's useless.

I'm Canadian, so I think we're still riding the pyramid train - but I like it. The only time I ever ran into these sorts of things was when I was in grade school under the age of 12, and back then, I think this would have been a great simplified way to visualize one way to eat healthily.

Though I can definitely appreciate the lack of concern for different food requirements/intolerances!

I was surprised at how much space was given to fruit, especially considering how easily fructose converts to body fat. Vegetables should have been given more space.

I think it is an improvement. "Servings" is quite ambiguous and I think this gives a better visualization of what a plate should look like.

Actually, there is quite a lot of information on the typical portion sizes required to reach the new recommendations when you click through on the blue bar marked "Get your personal daily food plan".

Mine comes down to 4 cups fruit & veg, 6oz grains, 3 cups milk, 5oz meat and 5 tsp oils.

It's more starch but less protein & fat than I eat. I would never have been able to lose the 25lb that I lost in the past year following this new guide, because it would have kept me hungry. On the other hand, if I had eaten like the guide recommended since I was a child, I might never have put on the weight in the first place.

It's crystal clear to me that Americans consume way more starches and sugars than what is on this plate. Many people probably eat their daily carb ration in one sitting. For example, a large tortilla or a bagel are listed as 4 oz each, and a muffin is 3. You blow your daily limit when you eat 2.

It's a vast improvement (don't forget that the food pyramid we grew up with had been changed to this mess), but it's not perfect.

While it's a good guideline for a meal, I feel like the target audience -- those ignorant about healthy eating or with the worst misconceptions about it -- will take it too literally and expect that every meal should look exactly this way, complete with a glass of milk in the corner. I'd like it much more if it weren't quite so literal.

A good idea, but it's not quite there yet. Then again, I design infographics so maybe I'm just extra critical.

The reasoning behind the change makes sense, but I do not agree with the food proportions at all... meaning I don't agree with the large grain section at all.

I like it. Personally, I will not be using it. I will be eating a balanced vegetarian diet as I have for more than 30 years. But as a parent of an elementary school child, I like it. In Kindergarten this year my child had to learn the food pyramid--it's standard curriculum in NYC. She came home with a wacky cut-and-paste project, gluing skinny weird strips of colored paper labeled with the different components to a cardboard pyramid. And I'm sure it made no sense to her beyond an arts and crafts project. The plate makes more sense.

I grew up with the 4 Food Groups squares. One was meat. One was dairy. One was fruits and vegetables. One was grain. All equal sizes. Complain about that circle of dairy all you want, but it's an improvement. And so is the label "protein" instead of meat. Considering how heavily subsidized and lobbied the dairy and meat industries are, this is a vast improvement. As always, consider the source.

I'm totally in agreement with DinerGirl about the vast amount of fruit.

It's a message that hasn't reached most people yet and clearly the USDA is nowhere ready to tackle it.

The dairy and grain industries strike again.

no fat? That is ridiculous. Sugar and grains are the problem. More veggies please.

I take this plate as a step in the right direction. Like a little step, a What About Bob Baby Step even, but a step. I mean, let's be serious right now, because of the big food lobbies, there ain't no way meat and dairy are going to get knocked off any time soon, but at least vegetables are getting a larger slice of the pie. It's the government folks, you really can't expect anything much better given what we know about food politics in the world today. At least they are sort of kind of starting to pay attention. I'd say attacking childhood obesity is one of the best First Lady projects in quite some time, but we can't expect it to satisfy us completely.

and here's why i love ruth bourdain:
http://ruthbourdain.tumblr.com/post/6119447875/there-that-looks-better

:)

It's certainly not perfect, but may be on a helpful road. First, I think that plate should have a marked diameter. I also see a problem in the placement of the fruit section. Most people don't put fruit on their dinner plate, but might have it after dinner or as a snack. So that section would likely become filled with grains. I would rather they push the plate idea of half veggies, quarter protein, quarter grains.

As far as objections to fruit, grains, and dairy even being in the recommendations... remember this is directed at people likely already eating these things. Eating fruit is a better way to eat something sweet than eating cake and ice cream-- it's a good way for many people to break these habits. Eating grains is still assumed for most people. I like that they use the word 'grains' rather than starch, which to makes me think of rice/quinoa rather than bread/potatoes which I think is positive. I do agree that more education needs to take place about the (lack of) relevance of dairy. Considering how many people are lactose-intolerant and how many other options there are for those nutrients, dairy should be thought of as an option or treat fore most people. Personally, I'm dairy tolerant and dairy loving and have found that it's a good way for me to maintain a healthy and balanced diet but I know that isn't true for most people.

Anyone noticed that on the choosemyplate.gov under the "oils" section, the USDA has listed cottonseed oil as one of the oils that provide essential nutrients?!

The USDA seems to be catering to companies' lower cost production needs without really caring for their consumer....

Food pyramid, food plate...it all means nothing if we're not educating people about nutrition in a separate program that is not influenced by food lobbyists!

For what it is, I think it's brilliant. This is what everyone sees when they sit down to a meal -- a plate of food. Anything that even starts to show people what the proper proportions of that food should be is a vast improvement in my book. Why we never had this diagram before but instead had the four (then five?) food groups and that useless pyramid is beyond me...

Seriously, y'all are down on fruit??? What the hell? I think it's far healthier to eat a healthy portion of fruit than to have dessert, which, you may notice, is not even on the plate. People need sugar and carbs - it's FUEL, people, FUEL - and fruit's a great way to get it. Jeez, you diet nazis are out of hand if you're opposed to fruit. Criminy.

I think it's far better than that stupid pyramid. What's even better are the tools available to the public at the website. You can enter your height and weight and find out how many calories you should be aiming for a day and how many cups of veggies, etc. There's also a daily food plan worksheet. Do I think it's going to change the world? No. But it might help some people.

I think this is a vast improvement over the weird stripey pyramid! It provides a nice sense of general eating guidelines and, unlike the most recent pyramid, is understandable at a glance!

For example, see how people could immediately jump on the sections representing the thing(s) they opposed?! It's because it's an imminently readable visual. I don't agree with all the guidelines set on the plate but I think it certainly provides an good starting point for educating the public.

Perhaps its an improvement but Dairy? Really?? The phosphorus in dairy actually saps calcium from your bones! Its actually an anti-calcium and should be removed and replaced with more veggies and fruit!

I think the concept of the plate vs. the pyramid is great. However, I think it's crazy that they think they can pick the best plate and have it apply to everyone.

I do better when my plate resembers more of ruthbourdains as mentioned above.

I'm celiac and grains in general (even those not contain gluten) affect me terribly. I am also lactose intolerant. So the dairy is off-base for a large part of the population...

The grain portion - IMO - should be small or nonexistent. I still can't find a solid argument that explains why we are supposed to have some type of grain with every meal? I can only gather that grains are just a cheap (though nutritiously void) way to fill bellys. I get plenty of fiber from my veggies and fruits. Has anyone reasearched if any grain/corn company's "contributed" a lot of money to this new guideline?

A more nutritious plate (or me) would have a lot protein, a lot of veggies a small serving of fruit and ...I'm missing the fat! Oil, nuts, etc.

However that would only be MY plate, it obviously wouldn't work well for a vegan.

I'm just saying that I'm not sure what this is supposed to accomplish; it clearly only works or is aimed at a small population of the people...

We've been pushed the standard american diet for years and the population as a whole is only getting fatter (isn't that what they base school meal programs on and childhood type 2 diabetes is on the rise...hmmmm)

Well, to each her own but I LOVE grains and fruits and dairy and eat them every day. I'm also fit, show consistently excellent numbers at the doc, and can still outrun my child. MOST people eat grains--"staff of life" and all that. This is a one-size-fits-all, so naturally there will be lots of people it doesn't fit.

of course they will have dairy. it is a large industry in this country. wouldn't want to offend the dairy market.

Personally, as a vegetarian living in the middle of Texas, I'm happy. I now have an excuse that people just might take! People here are more likely to accept, "well, according to the Food Plate, it's better to be eating more veggies, grains & fruits" rather than "well, I just feel healthier not eating meat" or, god forbid, "I just don't like meat."

As soon as I saw the new guidelines, I thought of this plate which is kinda brilliant for teaching kids what a balanced meal looks like: http://www.healthykidsplate.com/.

Wow, I'm surprised people are reacting this negatively to this graphic. Sure, there are lots of ways it could be improved, and it's not going to work for everyone.

But the mere fact of using the word "grains" instead of "starch", and NOT using the word "meat" at all, just "protein"? Is a HUGE step forward. I don't think that can be underestimated.

why couldn't they put (once a day) or something under milk?

Doesn't seem like some commentors bothered to actually go to choosemyplate.gov and read about the guidelines. They didn't actually just change the graphic, the whole presentation and quite a bit of content has also changed.

They are not recommending that 1/4 of each meal be fruit nor are they recommending we eat dairy with each meal. I didn't really interpert the graphic either to mean dairy was recommended at every meal.

The four components on the plate are meant to be the four food groups. My first reaction was that they should have had 1/2 the plate be fruits & veggies but now that I've looked at the guidelines, its clear why these two are separated.

Protein doesn't just mean meat, this group also includes beans and other vegetarian choices.

There is more info on portion sizes in the guidelines.

I don't think a simple graphic like this can convey all the guidelines, perhaps they need something bigger or with a disclosure or footnotes. However, I do think it sends a quick message that 1/2 of what we eat should be fruits & veggies. The dairy group may have been better named "calcium" as that seems to be the driving force for that inclusion. I don't agree with their including "100% juice" in the fruit group.

As a graphic designer, I think it's definitely an improvement on the previous chart (with the stairway to heaven), and is a simple way to convey the guidelines. In regards to proportions, I think ya'll are reading into it much too literally. It's meant to represent what percentage of your daily intake should be, not how much you should fill your plate each meal. Now whether the guidelines are for everyone, or are "good" guidelines, is another story.

First of all what happened to the jogger? Do they no longer recommend exercise?

The plate would be a good idea if plates were not so enormous these days. I can't even get my cabinets to close on them. Plus, it may confuse consumers into thinking they need to eat from all categories at every meal instead of throughout the day.

I generally eat fruit in the morning, at snack time or for dessert in the evening.

High protein grains and legumes should be one category and then shrink animal protein and dairy categories. Expand the veggie rainbow pie! (riffed from Andrew Weil's anti-inflammatory pyramid)

This USDA plate reeks of the typical American diet that is causing chronic illness and global warming.

To the one who said they needed a big hunk of cheese for the protein portion, I'm assuming that you'd just replace it with larger portions of protein-packed veggies and grain. And for "dairy", simply subsitute a non-dairy product like almond or rice milk.
People are taking this way too literally. It is meant to be used as a guide on an average dinner plate. Parents need to teach their children good eating habits and adults in general need to learn and practice good eating habits for a healthy lifestyle. If having it diagrammed on a plate will help some people achieve that, I think it's great.

I think it's a huge improvement and I like it!

If everyone would make fruits and veggies half of their meal, as this suggests, we'd be a lot healthier than we are now.

I think this is a lot better for teaching kids, given the clearer visualization.

But no room for healthy fats? No mention that, if your grains are a sugar-filled cereal they are worse than useless?

This might be good as a teaching tool for elementary schools. For general american obesity, I think what is needed is legislation that works in favor of natural foods and the health of individuals, rather than corporations. See cottonseed oil comment above.

In regards to the "missing" fats category - I would guess that they are assuming there will be some fats in your protein, dairy, or grains so they did not list it separately.

easier than MyPyramid but still not quite right.

things that could be added:

-portion sizes
-half the plate as veggies
-focus on unprocessed, whole foods vs. processed/packaged foods
-i agree with the healthy fats comments, too: there is room for these in the diet, and they may fall under protein (nut butters, etc), but that is very unclear.

[from a registered dietitian's perspective]. :)

Is the plate better visually than the pyramid? i think so. Is it conceptually better than the pyramid? i think so.
I also think its very possible for health and nutrition professionals to take "the plate" and adjust it for a diabetic, vegan or lactose intolerant individual by manipulating a proportions.
So in theory there could be several versions of a healthy plate depending on the needs of the individual.
This is a very good and actually DOABLE "plate" for the average person transitioning from the SAD.

my challenge with this food plate is that it includes dairy AND protein -- which is mixing metaphors. dairy is a form of protein. so, while i applaud the graphics change and believe it's a step in the right direction, it's based on a 1950's idea of eating, with everyone sitting down to dinner with a glass of milk to drink.

i'd redesign the plate to double the vegetable portion and instead of a round of dairy, that would be a round of fruit.

They should have used a fast food wrapper instead of a plate! LOL.

I honestly think part of the problem with the pyramid method was what consisted of a serving.
Unless you were really concerned about your diet, most of us never really considered serving sizes. All we were concerned with was getting a balanced mix of all the food groups. So even though we were getting a good mix of all the groups, we were eating 2-4 times our daily caloric intake. Thereby defeating the balanced diet to begin with.
Like serendipitwaddle pointed out, what does it matter what proportion of my plate is what if I'm still eating larger servings/portions.

It's junk. You NEED fat. You don't need milk. It's just one more way to make Americans 'think' they know how to eat well when really they don't have a clue. To be a little positive, I do like that sugar's gone...

They aren't targeting foodies, vegans, health-food nuts, or vegetarians with this chart - its meant to educate those with little-to-no understanding of proper nutrition. So for all of the bells, whistles, ricemilk, quinoa, gluten-free bread, soy cheese, acai, and fois gras that are missing, anyone with a basic understanding of fractions should recognize the general proportions and make healthier choices.

I think its incredibly smart - kids in pre-school will find this simple enough to understand. That's a huge improvement over the food pyramid and most diet/nutrition recommendations out there. Combined with education on portion sizes and exercise, I think this gives parents and teachers the right information to start making a difference at a young age...before the bad education and bad habits set in.

Man, you guys are hard to please. It's just a dinky little chart for generalized food consumption. Give them some credit and leave your own personalized food preferences to your own plates.

Now if the government could just adjust their food vouchers on their food stamps/WIC to include more fresh ingredients rather than processed food, and encourage better food education by teaching basics like what nutrients come from what foods, then we could actually be making some headway with nutrition education.

I think it is better. Seriously, if most people in the US ate half from the dinner plate we'd be doing much better. At least fruit and veg are lower in calories and that would be big help.

The dairy is ridiculous of course.

Also, I'll probably print out a copy near our breakfast table for my toddler's reference maybe after cutting of the circle.

Also, huge thumbs up that (I think) this is the first time were PROTEIN is just PROTEIN instead of a big MEAT.

First of all, if you're relying on the government to have to remind Americans that you need exercise, we're all in big trouble. Also, I think the fruit section is totally fine. Fruit is a food group, and it certainly doesn't need to be eliminated from a properly balanced meal. This isn't some faddish diet, guys. Eliminate meat and dairy and sugar if you want, but fruit is still a valid part of a balanced diet.

I think this is a good step in the right direction in terms of usability. Are there some questions open? Sure. But who looked at the food pyramid? This is more likely to stick in someone's mind.

For those of us who choose to educate ourselves on healthy food choices, any guide they put out isn't going to be useful. For those who only eat fast food or just meat/cheese/carbs, this can't hurt. If someone like that starts filling half their plate with fruits and vegetables, it's going to be an improvement for them. A shocking number of kids grow up never meeting a vegetable of any kind.

I like it. As a teacher, who has to teach district-approved health material, this will be a lot easier to teach than that last joke of a pyramid. Those servings look like the standard dinner plate I serve my kids at home. It's not perfect, but at least a kid can look at this, compare it to their meal at home, and see if their family's habits are more or less healthy (

For those of you scoffing at the need for government recommendations, think of it from a kid's perspective. If your family has unhealthy habits, how do you learn what a healthy dinner looks like? You have to see it somewhere.

Also? How long before they start printing this on kids' school lunch plates?

I appreciate what lisa ici said.

Speaking as a mother, a graphic designer, and a person who was taught very little by my parents about proper portions/nutrition in general, and who didn't pay much attention in school health class, and who has had a lifetime of weight issues ... I am a huge fan of the plate design. It is an easy reminder that you need a variety of foods on your plate, and helps remind you that you shouldn't make a meal of just one item.

Not everyone is raised knowing that mac and cheese is not a vegetable, or that you shouldn't eat the whole box at once. Consider yourself lucky if your parents emphasized healthy eating habits, 'cause bad eating habits are a booger to overcome. Kudos to USDA for continuing to try to educate the children of our country.

Well, if I hadn't already seen the plate graphic which Weight Watchers has been using in Switzerland for the last year, I might be more impressed. The Weight Watchers version is far, far better.

First off, it includes fats.

The human body needs fats to function -- good fats. Americans need to learn what good fats are, how to use them, and how much of them to consume. Ignoring fats on the plate isn't going to stop people from eating them; it will just perpetuate the ignorance.

The number one problem in North America is portion control. While this graphic goes part of the way (and we can quibble about the relative section sizes), it only goes part of the way. The Weight Watchers version shows actual food as an example of what people should be eating -- actual vegetables and fruits on the plate, actual carbohydrates (because let's face it, there are good ones and poorer ones), and good proteins.

Of course, the USDA, with all its vested interests, couldn't go that far, because of course it would be viewed as a form of promotion.

What needs to happen is that Americans have to start rejecting the idea that value is linked to quantity. That lots of something constitutes a good deal, especially in relation to a meal. I think this notion harkens back to our impoverished immigrant roots and culture of frugality, and is exacerbated by food culture that goes back to early pioneering and farming days (when people actually needed lots more calories than they do now).

Restaurants have to stop with the large portions; in Europe, restaurants serve sane portion sizes (well, maybe not in Germany, but in most places!).

Still, it's a start.

Everybody will always tailor their diet to their own preferences, metabolism, and allergies/intolerances. But I think this plate graphic does a better job of indicating portions and balance than the old pyramid. Yes, the graphic cannot stand alone in food education, but there ARE additional features of the USDA suggestions, including what kinds of foods (e.g. whole grains, good fats) should make up each of these categories.

Is anyone else troubled by the fact that this food plate (and the previous food pyramid) was made by the Department of AGRICULTURE and not by the Department of HEALTH and Human Services? Because I am.