The New Food Plate

The USDA's answer to the "complicated" Food Pyramid: a simple plate, place mat, drink and fork. Here's what people are saying:

"This is a quick, simple reminder for all of us to be more mindful of the foods that we’re eating. We’re all bombarded with so many dietary messages that it’s hard to find time to sort through all this information, but we do have time to take a look at our kids’ plates. If the filled plate looks like the symbol, with lots of fruits and vegetables, it’s as simple as that." - Michelle Obama

"It’s better than the pyramid, but that’s not saying a lot." - Marion Nestle

"It's such a recognizable image. Everybody has seen a plate, used a plate. It's much easier to visualize when it's something we use on a daily basis. It's about choosing the right things, not so much about avoiding." - Toby Smithson, R.D., a national spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association

"The new 'food icon' was designed to help slim Americans’ expanding girths: Two-thirds of American adults and one-third of children are overweight or obese. The costs associated with obesity are enormous.” - Tom Vilsack, Agriculture Secretary

“It’s brilliant in its simplicity. It’s something the average American can look at and get a visual feel for how they can fill up a plate at a meal.” - Robb MacKie, Head of the American Bakers Association

"The plate image does not suggest portion sizes, only the ratios in which foods should be eaten." - Various Nutritionists

We here at Just Saying are curious to see how the meat industry will react to being relegated to the purple protein portion of the plate - that does not appear to require a knife or spoon. As always, reader thoughts and comments are welcome.

***UPDATE***

Stephen Colbert weighs in: "A plate? For Food? What's the connection? Americans don't use plates anymore. Our food comes from cases, bags, cans, tubes, and envelopes made of themselves." Watch the entire Colbert clip here.

Great Data on American Food Consumption

The USDA's Economic Resource Service has gathered and published some fascinating data about America's food consumption. Nothing too shocking about these graphs but really interesting stuff. The article in Amber Waves that accompanies these graphs offers a great understanding of the technological, political, social and economic forces affecting food availability over the past century (in fewer words than so many books on the subject).

Some bad news from Captain Obvious

A recent study on the "nutritional" contents of movie theater popcorn has revealed "an alarming amount of fat, salt and calories in even the smallest sizes." These shocking findings actually come from the Center for Science in the Public Interest. You can read all about the study in this post up on the NY Times Well blog or face the reality (that you already know deep down in your arteries) by way of the following highlights/factoids:

REGAL CINEMAS: A large bucket holds 20 cups of popcorn and has 1,200 calories, 980 milligrams of sodium and 60 grams of saturated fat. The medium size, which comes in a bag, contains the same amount as the large. And the small, at 11 cups, delivers 670 calories, 550 milligrams of sodium and 24 grams of saturated fat. Adding a tablespoon of butter adds 130 calories.

AMC: A small size from AMC containing 6 cups of popcorn, had 370 calories, "enough to justify sharing with a friend and eating one kernel at a time to make it last the length of a movie."

CINEMARK: Fares slightly better than its competitors because it pops its popcorn in nonhydrogenated canola oil instead of coconut oil (which is 90 percent saturated fat). Their large tub contains 17 cups of popcorn with 910 calories and 4 grams of saturated fat, as well as 1,500 milligrams of sodium.

Tough To Digest

Yesterday, the NY Times reported about the Education Department's decision to ban bake sales in public schools as part of a new wellness policy aiming to reduce students' trans fat and sugar intake. From the article:

The previous regulations limited sales to once a month and allowed them at any time during that day, but they were loosely enforced. Officials say they will do more to monitor the new regulations.

“We have an undeniable problem in the city, state and the country with obesity,” said Eric Goldstein, the chief of the office of school support services. “During the school day, we have to focus on what is healthy for the mind and the body.”

Unsurprisingly, the rationale is getting a cool reception among students. At Fiorello H. La Guardia High School on the Upper West Side, students are used to having bake sales several times a month. Now, Yardain Amron, a sophomore basketball player, laments that his team will not be able to raise money for a new scoreboard.

Another La Guardia student, Eli Salamon-Abrams, 14, said that when the soccer team held a bake sale in May, his blueberry muffins sold out in 15 minutes. He said of the ban: “I think it’s kind of pointless. I mean, why can’t we have bake sales?”

Today, I ask: Is this really the best solution, Mayor? Don't get me wrong, I'm a big Bloomberg fan and definitely appreciate and applaud his efforts in this case as well as the case against plastic bags but I gotta say that a bake sale ban seems a bit misdirected. Perhaps it addresses a small symptom that may or may not mean obesity for some percentage of brownie bakers or buyers - but it certainly isn't the root of the problem.

EDUCATE these children. Granted, putting the lesser of snack evils in the vending machines and saying no to sodas are steps in the right direction, but steering kids away from baking and fundraising for their sports teams? Not so cool. Give a kid $5 for school lunch (healthy or not) and you feed him for a day. Teach a kid to cultivate, garden, harvest, cook, spice, BAKE, dice, mix, braise... put work into making something edible with real, whole foods and you feed him for a lifetime. Just saying.

Slow Food Folks Take Action This Labor Day

From Peter Rothberg's post on The Nation:

"Slow Food USA's Time for Lunch campaign officially kick-offs on Labor Day with a National Day of Action featuring more than 280 scheduled Eat-Ins in all 50 states. There'll also be a virtual march on Washington with citizens encouraged to send a clear message to Congress to protect children against food that puts them at risk. The campaign seeks to have Congress update the Child Nutrition Act, which is up for reauthorization later this month, to get legitimately nutritious food into school lunch programs. Slow Food USA chapter leaders have been working diligently to reach out to schools, PTA groups, churches, legislators, and community and fraternal organizations to bring as many people as possible to the table on Labor Day. More than 40 percent of local Eat-Ins are being organized by other organizations – or concerned citizens – that support the goals of the campaign."

Check out Rothberg's entire post discussing the political and social aspects of food here.