Partnership for a Healthier America Applauds USDA’s New Food Icon

‘MyPlate’ Emphasizes Making Healthy Eating Easier

WASHINGTON, DC (June 2, 2011) – Lawrence A. Soler, CEO of the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) –an organization focused on solving the nation’s childhood obesity crisis – today issued the following statement on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) introduction of the new food icon, MyPlate:

“We applaud the USDA’s new food icon, which takes an important step towards making information about nutrition accessible and easy to understand. It will help empower individuals and families make healthy decisions about what foods they eat and advance our goal of ending the childhood obesity epidemic within a generation. The graphic is simple and provides individuals with direct, comprehensible recommendations. We look forward to working with our private partners in embracing this new icon.”

First Lady Michelle Obama, along with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, introduced the MyPlate at an event this morning. The graphic represents a plate of food, divided into fruits, vegetables, grains and proteins, with a circle alongside it representing dairy. The new food icon, along with other nutritional information, can be found online at www.ChooseMyPlate.gov.