I like the graphic design, but I am not sure it is easy to use. Comparing the amount of dairy is hard because it is a different shape. It is also interesting to note fats and oils are gone all together, are they just not something you discuss in polite company anymore?

Edited to add: This is my terrible effort at a paleo version to see how I react to the format as opposed to the information.

And it does seem pretty easy to use when I see it that way.

It is also clear that I should never try for a career in graphic design

That's one of the stupidest things I've ever seen.

One diet fits all?

No mention at all of fats of any kind -- good, bad, how much?

Dairy products only fit in a cup?

No mention at all of gluten intolerance or the concept that grains may be bad for some people? Everyone should fill their plate 1/4 with grains every meal? If I did that I'd be in the bathroom 45 minutes later.

Ok so it's simple. It has that going for it. "Make things as simple as possible, but not simpler." - Albert Einstein

Hey! Where is the wedge for all of the god damned pills we're going to be given for all of our disorders caused by the other wedges of food?!

More balance is better than the original food pyramid. Obviously we on PaleoHacks are going to disagree with the ratios (and as mentioned by Vrimj, the deletion of fat), but the egalitarian pie shape doesn't put grains in a position of importance anymore, which is an improvement over all in my mind.

Also, this looks way less informative than the food pyramid used to. The less information the government gives on nutrition, the better.

Edit: Was reading through the informational aspect of the website. The dairy section is particularly atrocious:

All fluid milk products and many foods made from milk are considered part of this food group. Most Dairy Group choices should be fat-free or low-fat. Foods made from milk that retain their calcium content are part of the group. Foods made from milk that have little to no calcium, such as cream cheese, cream, and butter, are not. Calcium-fortified soymilk (soy beverage) is also part of the Dairy Group.

Dairy Section

Since when is soymilk a dairy product?

So its like this now: green beans on the veggie part, caramel apple on the fruit part, ramen noodles for the grains, and tofu for the protein? Oh, yeah...wash it down with lowfat chocolate milk. Sounds balanced and healthy right? You can use a fork to stab all that, right?

This is just as useless as the pyramid.

There's some good stuff in there, like the recommendation to eat organ meats and 8 oz of seafood a week. And how can you quibble with eating more vegetables and not drinking sugary drinks?

But they reiterate conventional wisdom re fats, and call them empty calories. They do say that some fats are necessary, but they're all about the PUFAs.

Here's the fat allowance table: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/foodgroups/oils_allowance_table.html

According to which, i should eat no more than 5 tsp of fat per day.

Then there's this, which gives teaspoons in common foods: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/foodgroups/oils_count_table.html

According to which, if I eat one avocado, I've blown my recommended allowance by 1 tsp, and can't eat any other fat that day Is that just me, or is that crazy???

Okay, I am super geeky. I took the menu from the first day here: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/downloads/Sample_Menus-2000Cals-DG2010.pdf

Then I ran it through cron-o-meter, because I was curious. Here's the breakdown: Calories: 2031 Protein: 102g Carbs: 252g Lipids: 72g

Vitamins and minerals good, slight shortage (if you follow this to the T) on B5, Iron, and Potassium.

Lipids: Saturated: 18.2 Mono: 30.5 Poly 17.8 (horrible breakdown: Omega 3 .9; Omega 6 16.7) Cholesterol: 127.3

This needs a demotivational caption: Deck chairs, let us rearrange them.

I think it is leaps and bounds better than before. For one, it is actually readable. A legit pie chart would be easier to compare- I find myself seeing 4 90 degree angle slices and thinking '25% each'. Sure, I completely can't eat dairy and I'd love to see 'Grain' changed to 'Fat', but it is an improvement to be sure. Better yet, roll the right side of the plate (Grains and Protein) into 'Meat'), kill the dairy, and we're off!

I love the concept of the plate, much easier to apply for people. I like that vegetables and fruits are now recommended in higher doses than grains. I don't like that grains and dairy don't have "minimal" caveats with them. I hate they are not using macronutrients!

Why is the government telling us what to eat, anyway?

Good concept - but it's still the "everything in moderation" mentality. I like the idea of adding a graphic for the daily pills I see my SAD eating family taking - statins, metformin, synthroid, beta blockers, and on and on and on.

EDIT - from http://nomnompaleo.com/post/6125536089/hey-myplate-this-is-my-plate

The Dairy plate is touching the meat plate so I will have to bury it in the backyard till conventional wisdom dies off. Then I will dig them up and frame it as "dumb dietary advice". It is no longer just "where's the beef?" but "where's the fat?".

So the government recommends for a 5'3 140 pound active woman..three cups of veggies,two cups of fruit(remember fiber-less fruit and vegetable juices count as a serving!),three glasses of skim milk(water), a tiny fat-less portion of"meat" or beans,then fill the hole with nutritionally void grain products.Umm yeah that's how I got up to 200 pounds in the first place.

The relative size of the sections represent the current lobbying budget of the various producers.

Come on, Dairy, pick up the pace!

I think its a step in the right direction, its still in its juvenile stages. Give it some time to mature :p

This is just aweful.... I wish they would stop publishing bad guidlines. And it feels so good to vent about it. :-)

their URL:

ChooseMyPlate.gov

How about:

Goverment choose my plate...

Should the Surgeon General be advising the public on nutrition or the USDA?

one of my favorite paleo-blogger just posted this. i think it's t-shirt material.

www.fitbomb.com

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rTj3ZgtUIWE/TegFX8RRQAI/AAAAAAAAANE/z8nBOl3Gnu8/s1600/notthathardpeople.jpg

I like this take on it:

http://knitfitter.blogspot.com/2011/06/new-usda-nutrition-plate-and-my.html

It took me a bit of fiddling around, but I think I got the USDA beat.

Check out the USDA Plate vs the Paleo Plate

The symbol is reminiscent of preschool and undermines adult intelligence. We read entire books with printed words about diet/exercise fads.

Fruits & vegetables are 50%, but it appears perhaps fruits & protein are each 20% and grains and vegetables are each 30%. The plate is not divided into quarters. What is the official size of the cup?

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/food-plate-replace-food-pyramid/story?id=13726798

"They also hope that in addition to being simpler, the new symbol will place a greater emphasis on the need for physical activity. Experts also hope the new symbol and its messages about proper nutrition don't ignore the need for exercise." Without a figure running up a pyramid, how is this accomplished with the new symbol?

"It answers the simple question, 'What should my plate look like at any given meal?'" Yet actual meals often mix those nicely divided sections, as in a chicken salad or lasagne.

"The symbol should also be small, representing the need for smaller portion sizes." The symbol is a graphic. If it appears on a billboard, I assume it will be larger than on an information phamplet I might receive in the mail.