In 2011 First Lady Michelle Obama and other White House administration officials replaced the old—and sometimes confusing—food pyramid with MyPlate, a round, colorful graphic diagram that visually shows how much room on a plate should be dedicated to each food group. It was a part of her effort to fight America’s obesity epidemic. While MyPlate simplified daily nutrition, there’s still a lot to remember: eat a variety of protein-rich foods, dedicate half your plate to fruits and veggies (steamed, not fried or buttered), half your grains should be whole grains, drink low-fat milk, stick with healthy oils like canola or olive oil. Whew! 

To make things a little easier, Mrs. Obama has unveiled a new plan that flags recipes online and in magazines that meet the MyPlate criteria. If you’re flipping through your favorite magazine or scouring the web for a healthy dinner recipe for your family, you know you’ve hit gold when you see the MyPlate icon. Some of the media companies slated to participate in this initiative include Condé Nast, Hearst, Meredith, Food Network and Time Inc., as well as 18 cooking websites, from AllRecipes.com to FoodNetwork.com to GoodHousekeeping.com.

And there’s more. Starting today, there will also be more than 3,000 MyPlate-approved recipes featured on their newly launched Pinterest boards, making it even easier for home chefs to find nutritious-and-delicious cooking inspiration. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will provide oversight by making sure the recipes marked with the MyPlate icon have limited added sugar and saturated fat, and aren’t loaded with unnecessary salt. 

The goal of this initiative is to help home cooks identify tasty recipes  from the food groups—vegetables, fruits, dairy, whole grains and protein—on MyPlate. The new plan also ties into the first lady’s “Let’s Move!” initiative that works to combat childhood obesity through education and national physical fitness programs. ”As a mom, I know how challenging it can be to think of new meal ideas that your kids will like and that will be good for them,” says Mrs. Obama. “This partnership takes the guess work out of finding healthier recipes and gives parents the information and the tools they need to make healthy choices for their families every day.” 

Tags: healthy foods, healthy living, michelle obama, MyPlate

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 26th, 2013 at 12:17 pm and is filed under Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.