04/21/06 Food Pyramid Anniversary

04/21/06 Food Pyramid Anniversary

Food Pyramid celebrates birthday. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. One year ago, the USDA rolled out a brand new version of the food pyramid. We all remember the pyramid from health class. It was a one size fits all program for good healthy eating. The new MyPyramid.gov website has seen a lot of use over the past year as Ag Secretary Mike Johanns explains. JOHANNS: MyPyramid.gov is one of the most widely visited federal websites, not only today but throughout the history of the federal government. There are 229,000 websites that currently reference MyPyramid so it is everywhere. Johanns says that it's not just the public who is embracing the program. JOHANNS: Not only are we getting a lot of interaction through our website but the industry has picked this up, the food industry. They believe there's value there and they're promoting it and that's very, very encouraging. With growing public concern about overweight and obesity and interest in improving health, USDA designed MyPyramid to reach a broad spectrum of the American public. MyPyramid.gov was designed to incorporate the latest, most credible science as reflected in the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, while offering a practical tool to individualize and personalize the food guidance. The MyPyramid web site can be accessed in both English and Spanish and a child friendly version, MyPyramid for Kids, has also been developed. The secretary also adds that he has taken the new pyramid to heart. JOHANNS: Some of the very things that we recommend to people are things that I do. I get up in the morning and exercise. That's the person we have running on the side of the pyramid. You know I like a wide variety of foods. We say to people, you can eat a wide variety of foods, but you know, pay attention. The Ag Secretary says there is much more planned for the site. JOHANNS: We want to do some interactive enhancements including the development of a new menu planning tool and updating the database to include new foods. We want to do some program evaluation. We want to do some customer outreach improvements and we would like to do some official cooperative agreements. Johanns says it's interesting to see how the pyramid has been integrated in to grocery stores. JOHANNS: I get a kick out of going to the grocery store and walking through the aisles and identifying the places where MyPyramid is displayed on something. According to a recent website satisfaction survey, 68 percent of the respondents indicated that MyPyramid.gov had prompted them to take action regarding their health. When asked why they had visited MyPyramid.gov, the number one answer was "to change my diet and eat healthier." That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.
Previous Report04/20/06 Mule Clones
Next Report04/24/06 Canadian Corn & Oregon Water