Set Up for Failure: The USDA Daily Plate
Using NPD’s National Eating Trends®(NET®) research, which has continually tracked the eating and drinking habits of U.S. consumers for over 30 years, MyPlate days were calculated based on consumers who, on the same day, achieved at least 70 percent of the daily recommended intake for dairy, fruit, grains, proteins and vegetables. For the average consumer, two percent of their days (about 7 days a year) come close to the USDA dietary guidelines; and when a MyPlate day is achieved, consumers are very likely to consume more than three meals a day.
I’ve often wondered about the actual effects of the USDA dietary guidelines on eating habits. Today I came across this. NPD is a company that provides consumer and retail information to 1,800 companies in many different branches of business, not just food, around the globe. I don’t see that they have a particular ax to grind.
I think most people want to eat well. It’s also clear that most people eat well enough to live active lives, avoid deficiency diseases, and survive longer than their ancestors.
Is it really bright policy in these circumstances to set up goals for eating that are so utopian that most well-intentioned people can’t achieve them?
An aside. The press release from NPD is just about as irritatingly vague as the USDA guidelines themeselves. When it says average, is this the median or the mean? What is the distribution of eating patterns? Hard to find out because you have to pay to get more info.
well said – we often compare longevity rates in different countries and their relevant diets: but generally speaking, we are living longer everywhere, no matter what our diet is, whether it’s wholly olive-oil based or not: just as long as there is no war or unhealthy environment (most importantly, clean water), people survive on almost any food
Thanks Maria. Hard to believe that these confusing and uninformative designs are taken so seriously.