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MyPyramid,
Inc.: Nutrition Guide Hijacked by Big Food
Originally published on Ascribe
Newswire, 4/25/05
Last week, the federal
government revealed its much-anticipated revision of the
"Food Guide Pyramid" -- that peculiar icon of nutrition
advice that adorns cereal boxes and not much else. By the
U.S. Department of Agriculture's own estimates, while most
people (80 percent surveyed) recognize the triangular
graphic, a sobering two to four percent actually follow its
principles. To try and fix this problem, Uncle Sam set out
to create a new and improved version. In true government
fashion, the job was outsourced to the mega-PR firm, Porter
Novelli International. While past clients have included the
likes of McDonald’s and the Snack Food Association, the
company promised there would be no conflict of interest.
So what did U.S. taxpayers get
for its $2.5 million? Reactions from nutrition experts to
the new graphic that contains no actual information -- just
colored sections and a figure walking up stairs -- have been
swift and unequivocal: The new "MyPyramid" is certainly no
better and may even be worse than the old version. With all
of the dietary details now only available via the web site,
buried deep among too many pages to click through, who on
earth is going to bother to take the time?
Exercise and Eat All You Want
At the government's press
conference, taking center stage was fitness guru Denise
Austin, introduced by USDA Secretary Mike Johanns as a wife
and a mother. (Are we still in the 1950s?) Overflowing with
energy, Austin implored reporters to join her in a
stretching routine. That the federal government's idea of
unveiling a $2.5 million dietary educational tool was
reduced to a Jane Fonda video was embarrassing to say the
least. But more insidiously, Uncle Sam's emphasis on
physical activity plays right into the hands of the food
industry.
In recent months, food companies
have come under increasing attack for contributing to public
health problems. The main way that industry deflects blame
for incessantly promoting unhealthy products is to point to
the nation's couch-potato tendencies. The government has now
officially adopted the food industry's argument that
exercise is the real answer to the nation's health woes. Of
course exercise is important, but so are other healthy
behaviors, such as getting enough sleep. If one side of the
pyramid shows someone walking up stairs to emphasize the
importance of exercise, why doesn't the other side show
someone lying down to emphasize the importance of rest?
Simply because sleep doesn't carry the same message of
personal responsibility (industry's mantra) that exercise
does.
Let the Co-opting Begin
We need no better sign that the
new pyramid is a victory for industry than all the ways that
major companies are wasting no time applauding it. For
example, on the same day as the government press conference,
in what must have been accomplished by Photoshop trickery,
cereal boxes depicted on General Mills' website already
contained the new image. "We want to help communicate these
important messages by using some of the best real estate
there is," said John Haugen, of General Mills. "The cereal
box is one of the most read items in the home. With cereal
consumed in 93 percent of American households, this is a
powerful step forward in nutrition education," he said. How
comforting to know that Americans read cereal boxes for
their nutrition advice. But the new graphic doesn't contain
any actual information. "Reading" the food pyramid while
downing a bowl of Lucky Charms isn't exactly what most
nutritionists would call either sound education or a
recommended dietary practice.
Snack food and beverage giant
PepsiCo also jumped on the bandwagon with an ad touting the
new graphic in USA Today, just two days after the government
release. In its statement, the company said the food
guidelines highlight energy balance as a key concept in
maintaining health. "Energy balance" is the food industry's
subtle way of promoting their over-simplified calories-in /
calories-out message. This conveniently sidesteps any
education regarding the actual nutritional content of the
calories, since that could result in people avoiding the
food giant's unhealthy products.
Also last week, a press release
from the Grocery Manufacturers of America (the packaged food
industry's powerful lobbying organization) proudly announced
its plans to promote the new pyramid to students, teachers,
and families. The trade group also took credit for the old
icon’s 80 percent recognition rate, saying it is "due, in
part, to the efforts of the food and beverage industry."
Seems they weren't so interested in taking credit for how
96-98 percent of people don't follow it.
The very name MyPyramid tells us
the government is squarely placing all responsibility for
eating right with you and me. Never mind those pesky
government subsidies and tax breaks to big agribusiness and
food manufacturers that make unhealthy food so cheap and
ubiquitous. Thank goodness Uncle Sam has created a web site
to counter all that. Now that the pyramid has been
completely hijacked by the food industry and promises to be
as useless an educational tool as it ever was, it's time to
hang up the effort altogether. Just think of all the money
government could save in addition to $2.5 million if it
really wanted to improve America's eating habits: no more
paying for expensive PR firms, corporate welfare, high
health-care costs, or fitness bimbos. |
