Food Guide Pyramid Gets Replaced With a New Icon … and a Recipe for Collard Greens with Raisins and Pine Nuts

by The Meal Makeover Moms on June 2nd, 2011

The year was 1992. Liz got married, Janice welcomed her daughter Carolyn into the world, and the government released the Food Guide Pyramid designed to help Americans eat a healthy, well-balanced diet. Almost 20 years later, the Pyramid has been sent into, what some might argue, a long-overdue retirement. Today, at a press conference in Washington DC, First Lady Michelle Obama, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and Surgeon General Regina Benjamin unveiled the USDA’s new food guidance icon, MyPlate. According to Mrs. Obama, the plate is useful and straight forward, and it’s so simple that kids can use it now and for the rest of their lives.

We’re pleased with the new icon and the companion website, ChooseMyPlate.gov. Vegetables and fruits get top billing, though we continue to wonder why the government does not subsidize them to the same degree they subsidize wheat, corn, and soy. We’d love to see a significant drop in the price of fresh fruits and veggies! Also on the plate are sections for grains and protein. The blue circle illustrates calcium-rich milk, yogurt, and other dairy foods, a symbol vegans or those with allergies may have a hard time swallowing.

The website serves up a plateful of helpful information … everything from foods to increase such as whole grains to foods to decrease (i.e. drink water instead of sugary drinks), and tips for balancing calories by avoiding over-sized portions.  We’re hopeful MyPlate adds fuel to efforts already underway across the country to help families maintain a healthy body weight and choose a diet filled with nutrient-rich foods.

For Janice, the Pyramid’s retirement is bittersweet. In 2005, her dad created this beautiful stained glass window for her office to celebrate the release of our first cookbook, The Moms’ Guide to Meal Makeovers. Perhaps this summer, Mr. Newell will surprise Janice with a new stained glass plate!

The timing of today’s unveiling is perfect. With backyard vegetable gardens in bloom, farmers’ markets popping up in more and more communities across the country, and a greater abundance of affordable, locally grown-produce at the supermarket, filling your plate with more produce should be a bit easier. Below, we share a recipe for collard greens … a leafy green veggie packed with vitamins K, A, and C (to name just a few)!

Liz was recently in Atlanta for the BlogHer Food conference (blog post forthcoming) where she had an opportunity to tour the Sweet Auburn Curb Market. There were plenty of sights to savor including this table piled high with collar greens. The giant bouquets of greens inspired Liz to cook up a recipe for Greens with Raisins and Pine Nuts from The Foods and Wines of Spain by Penelope Casas. All of her boys (hubby, Tim, and sons, Josh and Simon) enjoyed this side dish so much that she made it twice last week alone!

Greens with Raisins and Pine Nuts

Makes 4 Servings (adapted from The Foods and Wines of Spain)

  • 3 tablespoons raisins
  • 1 pound collard greens or Swiss chard, thick stems removed (weight after trimming)
  • Kosher salt
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons minced onion
  • 3 tablespoons pine nuts (Liz used slivered almonds)
  • Freshly ground black pepper

1. Soak the raisins in warm water while preparing the greens.

2. Place the greens in boiling water for 5 minutes; drain. Return the greens to the pot, cover with water, add a few pinches of salt, and 1 tablespoon of the oil. Return to a boil and cook 10 minutes, or until tender. Drain well and chop coarsely.

3. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute the garlic and onion until the onion is wilted. Add the greens and the raisins, drained, the nuts, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook 5 minutes. The greens may be eaten right away, but gain in flavor when left several hours and then reheated.

Print Recipe

What do you think of the new MyPlate icon? We’d love to hear your thoughts! And if you’d like to read what other registered dietitians (RDs) across the country have to say about MyPlate, visit Janet Helm’s blog, Nutrition Unplugged for a roundup.

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14 Comments | Filed Under Fruits, Vegetables 

14 Responses to “Food Guide Pyramid Gets Replaced With a New Icon … and a Recipe for Collard Greens with Raisins and Pine Nuts”

  1. Amy on June 2nd, 2011

    Awwww, I love that stained glass window! How sweet.

    I love the plate! We’ve been trying to make half our meals fruits and vegetables for a while now. It’s definitely a challenge, but a desirable goal.

  2. Liz on June 2nd, 2011

    Isn’t that window amazing? Could be a collectors item one day!! Feel free to share a link to “your plate” in a separate comment :)

  3. debbie on June 2nd, 2011

    I think its a waste of tax payers money. How can people not know what to eat and what to go easy on?

  4. Liz on June 2nd, 2011

    Debbie, thanks for weighing in on the issue. The USDA has had some sort of food guidance “symbol” for years. We can remember the 4 Food Groups from the time we were both dietetics students. We support having the government behind an easy-to-understand message, and certainly hope the new MyPlate icon (and website) helps Americans gain a better understanding of what constitutes a healthy diet. In the meantime, we’d be even more happy if our nation as a whole adopted major changes in the school lunch program, transportation (i.e. more bike paths), and so on and so on!

  5. Kay-Lynne on June 2nd, 2011

    Wow! I can’t wait to “redo” all my lesson plans (I teach “Healthy Foods” at the Junior High School level). I have been teaching the “plate idea” for a few years now, and I think this .gov site will go over more easily. The website is GREAT, too! I like the page about solid fats, and WOWOWOWOW, the page on empty calories, and specifically, “how many empty calories can I eat” by age group…..yikes, I am only allowed 120 empty calories a day?! This is all good. Now, will MyPlate.gov supply all the teachers who just bought pyramid posters last year with new MyPlate posters?

  6. Laura on June 2nd, 2011

    My first reaction when I saw the icon was “Wow, that’s easy.” The second was “Where are the fats and sugars?” I guess this new method recognizes the fat and sugar that are either inherent to the foods on the plate or a result of the cooking process. Finally, it reminded me a lot of the strategy that my Weight Watchers leader gave us for how to eat at a party…. to fill half of your plate with a “filling food” (at that time, greens or salads), a quarter with meat, and a quarter with a grain or dairy product.

  7. suzanne on June 2nd, 2011

    I really like the new myPlate. It seems so much more logical, and clear.
    I made banana chocolate chip pancakes for our early morning family get-away to Palm Springs tomorrow morning, they are so good…I had to sample one!

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  11. Rachael on June 11th, 2011

    I am disappointed in the new “my plate.” I’m a dietitian, and clients have found this one to be so much more confusing than the last ones. It give NO specifics of what to eat and is virtually useless in my opinion. Love the stained glass! I think the pyramid (though flawed) was much more informative for the public!!

  12. Casey on June 27th, 2011

    Thank you for the great recap of the new MyPlate symbol. I was glad to see such an emphasis on fruits and veggies! Sorry to hear about your MyPyramid “leftovers” though Janice-bittersweet!

    This recipe looks delightful-what a great way to add even more fruits and vegetables to your day.

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