USDA’s New Personalized Food Pyramid Applauded by Restaurants Operators

USDA’s New Personalized Food Pyramid Applauded by Restaurants Operators On April 19, 2005, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns announced the modernized food guidance system and an updated "personalized" food pyramid by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to further educate Americans about nutrition, moderation and a balanced diet. The USDA’s new food guidance system is built on 12 calorie levels. Size, age, gender and activity level determine an individual’s daily calorie needs from each of the five food groups, to “symbolizes a personalized approach to healthy eating and physical activity.” Later in September, federal government released another ''food pyramid" specifically aimed at 6- to 11-year-old children hoping that sound dietary advice combined with an interactive computer game featuring a rocket ship will help combat the growing obesity epidemic among children. The old "one-size-fits-all" food nutrition guidance is an outdated and ineffective concept that fails to address individual dietary needs. The new personalized food guide pyramid emphasizes that healthy lifestyles can best be achieved by combining physical activity with educated and balanced food choices; and can help individuals choose foods in sizes and amounts that are most appropriate for them.The “My-Pyramid” food nutrition guidance system can be viewed at www.mypyramid.gov. The new food pyramid is good news for restaurants The release of the new food pyramid is good news for restaurant industry, since Mypyramid has added the importance of physical activity into the new food guide system. Eating too much is not the only factor contributing to obesity, lacking of physical activities has been another officially admitted cause to blame. Therefore, people will less blame restaurant for “providing too delicious food” but will instead, try to find reasons in themselves. The new pyramid has underscored familiar nutritional and physical activity messages. Physical activity is another key part of the children's pyramid, just as it is for the adult pyramid. According to NRA President and Chief Executive Officer Steven C. Anderson, the nation’s 900,000 restaurants applauded Secretary Johanns and the USDA for encouraging more healthful living among Americans by modernizing the food guidance system. Restaurants may use the new food pyramid as reference guidance when responding to consumer demand for more choice in menu offerings and nutrition information. It would also be helpful for restaurants to design and offer a variety of menu options for health-aware consumers. Following the release of the new Food Guide Pyramid, the National Restaurant Association has launched a special nutrition information program to help foodservice operators better utilize the new tool, and to aid the restaurants in their continued efforts to provide healthy menu choices to accommodate a variety of dietary preferences and needs. How can Asian ingredients be understood and marketed in a restaurant within the context of the USDA’s new food pyramids introduced earlier this year? Suvir Saran, Chef-Owner of Devi, an award-wining Indian restaurant in New York City, shared his comment with A-R-N. “I firmly believe that a restaurant should not be taking on the task of marketing either ingredients or the food pyramid. All we ought to do is train ourselves as chefs, train our team in the kitchen and educate the front of the house employees about why we do certain things they way we do. It is about sharing with our staff our own philosophy towards food and once we have done that, they become our brand ambassadors if you will and it is up to them, depending on the situation, to share with our customers how we have adapted to the dietary needs of the day.”