Is the plate half-full or half empty?
The new food guide just unveiled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that Americans fill half of their plates with fruits and vegetables. This view - and the new simple plate design, replacing the food pyramid - are important not forward.
But as a dietitian, I find myself focusing on the contrast between the new icon and federal agricultural subsidies. The icon of the plate and recently came out of the USDA dietary guidelines advise Americans to limit fatty products such as meat and cheese. But the Federal Government continues to subsidize these very products with billions of dollars of taxes, and it does almost no support of fruits and vegetables.
The Government of the United States spends about 16 billion a year on agricultural subsidies. And while more than 60 per cent of agricultural subsidies in recent history have directly and indirectly support meat and dairy, fruits and vegetables obtained less than 1%.
It is clear that the Federal Government understands that the latest nutrition research supports a shift to diets based on plants to help in the fight against heart disease, cancer, obesity and chronic diseases that kill Americans so much. Food recommendations to eat more fruits, vegetables and whole grains - and they include even articles describing the benefits of the vegetarian and vegan plans.
But the Government is still the difficulty of putting its money where its mouth is.
It is an endless cycle. The Government uses billions of tax dollars to encourage the production of foods that have been linked to chronic diseases, and it uses billions more to cover the resulting hospital bills. In 2008, the medical costs of obesity has added up to $ 147 billion.
Since the introduction of pyramid food first USDA, twenty years earlier, obesity and diabetes have become commonplace. Now, about 27% of young adults are too overweight to qualify for military service, and an estimated three children born in 2000 will develop diabetes. More than 60 per cent of the deaths to the United States are caused by heart disease, cancer and other diseases related to food.
In 1991, the USDA unveiled the first eating right pyramid, which pointed out the grain, fruit and vegetables and reduced emphasis on meat and dairy products. But he quickly withdrew the icon because of objections by the meat industry. The following year, the Department launched a similar but added food guide recommendations of two updated every three servings from the milk group meat and two to three of the Group of products.
The USDA finally takes a bold action by introducing a guide which encourages a shift towards diets rich in plant foods. But, just as the Department provided its food icon a rejuvenation treatment, Congress must reorganize agricultural policy to encourage the production and consumption of healthy foods. Our health depends on it. Kathryn Strong is a personal dietitian for the Committee of physicians for responsible medicine. For more information, see www.pcrm.org. It was distributed by McClatchy - Tribune Information Services.
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