Thursday, June 2, 2011

Choose My Plate

The new graphic replacing the USDA's pyramid has been revealed today along with a (new?) website, http://www.choosemyplate.gov/.  I really like the new look of the graphic.  It's simple to understand and visually appealing.  I browsed around the site and they also have some really useful tools like a food tracker, foodepedia and meal plans for the likes of preschoolers, moms to be and the general population.  Now, they don't give you recipes, but they do tell you how many cups/ounces/etc you should be getting of a particular food group each week.  This is based on your age, gender, height, weight and physical activity.  I will definitely be checking out the food plan for moms-to-be when I get pregnant.

3 comments:

  1. I think the plate is an improvement over the pyramid. But the site itself looks like it was recycled from the 1990s. It is not user friendly and in the age of tweets, far too text intensive. A site redesign is in order if they want to target the young people.

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  2. I do agree that the site design is not stellar and could use an overhaul. I also agree that the USDA could integrate their social media into the page. They do have Twitter, YouTube and I'm sure a Facebook page and they should be incorporated into the page. Having videos or podcasts instead of text heavy Q&A or whatnot would be extremely helpful in reaching a wider and younger audience. The government should hire me as a consultant!

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  3. Now why couldn't they make it more like this?

    http://www.letsmove.gov/

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