“The Dinner Plate is more accurately thought of as a diagram of agriculture subsidies. The change in the government’s nutritional guidance was part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s initiative to curb childhood obesity. But the First Lady and other at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) continue to rely on unscientific rules of thumb that believe, without evidence, that meat, particularly those meats that are high in fat like red meat, is the primary cause of obesity, and later in life heart disease and high cholesterol. The dinner plate is fully one-half carbohydrates, either in the form of starches or sugar.
The fundamental problem with both the Dinner Plate concept and the original Food Pyramid is that both came from the USDA, not the National Institutes of Health or the National Science Foundation. The USDA, the agency responsible for handing out huge government subsidies, is not likely to want to curb the population’s consumption of grains, particularly corn, which presently enjoys an enormous subsidy.”
More here.
Michelle Obama’s MyPlate and the USDA’s Incentives
“The Dinner Plate is more accurately thought of as a diagram of agriculture subsidies. The change in the government’s nutritional guidance was part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s initiative to curb childhood obesity. But the First Lady and other at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) continue to rely on unscientific rules of thumb that believe, without evidence, that meat, particularly those meats that are high in fat like red meat, is the primary cause of obesity, and later in life heart disease and high cholesterol. The dinner plate is fully one-half carbohydrates, either in the form of starches or sugar.
The fundamental problem with both the Dinner Plate concept and the original Food Pyramid is that both came from the USDA, not the National Institutes of Health or the National Science Foundation. The USDA, the agency responsible for handing out huge government subsidies, is not likely to want to curb the population’s consumption of grains, particularly corn, which presently enjoys an enormous subsidy.”
More here.
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Published in Commentary, Food, Policy and Politics