The American Diet: USDA Chart Compares What We Should Be Eating To What We Are Eating

Grist:

The above chart, created by the USDA, compares the food consumed by the average U.S. citizen (using "loss-adjusted food availability" data as a proxy for consumption) to Federal dietary recommendations. In other words, what Americans eat vs. what the federal government thinks we should be eating.

Read the whole story: Grist

Comments

[Hughie James]

10:49 PM on 04/04/2010

men2200-2700.women 1700-2000 cals per day. no more than 4-6 oz lean meat a day. try one day a week total veg.meals then try two a week. eat fruit 3 times a day. 1 hour work out ,burn a least 300 cals 3-4 times a week.

[Wallysmom]

10:34 PM on 04/04/2010

When they stop charging 1.99 for a head of iceberg lettuce and 75 cents for an onion that is the size of a plum, then Americans will eat more veggies. Took a wild stab and bought "healthy" foods vs. my standard cart of evil, yummy, naughty foods and spent 3 times as much on my grocery bill. It's either a drought or freeze that drives up the cost of oranges, tomatoes, or some other produce. The majority of our grapes come from Chili and Mexico imports oranges. When they do genetic engineering to produce a beet that tastes like a Big Mac and a bok choi that tastes like Boston Cream Pie, I'm going vegan.

[booki]

07:11 PM on 04/04/2010

when i was a little girl, and my mom would make the mcdonalds run ,,,,,,,take our orders
i would ask for a "cheeseburger w/o the burger."
they always laughed, .......she what i meant,

i hate the thought of eating, something that was once alive,
and was murdered, ......

veggies are great, fruits, legumes.

[mamacat]

09:58 AM on 04/04/2010

Since cows, pigs, and chickens eat grains, doesn't that mean that eating them is just another way of eating concentrated grains? :) ( I couldn't resist the temptation...)

[jsarets]

10:44 AM on 04/04/2010

Cows and chickens don't normally eat grains (pigs eat anything). That's just what we usually feed them. In a more idealistic food system, animal-based foods would be a way of concentrating the protein found in a larger amount of fibrous vegetation such as alfalfa and/or clover that require less water and soil nutrients to grow than cereal grains (e.g. dent corn) or oil seeds (e.g. field soy).

[skymuffin]

04:26 AM on 04/04/2010

The original food pyramid corresponded pretty closely for the way to fatten cattle. Really!

[LyssaBarnes]

08:41 PM on 04/03/2010

According to the article we eat too much wheat and meat, but not enough dairy, fruits, and vegetables? I can understand less meat, but more dairy? That is not entirely good advice. And the complex carbs provide energy and some nutritional value. The Mediterranean and Asian pyramids contain quite a bit of complex carbs in the form of grains.

[jsarets]

10:34 AM on 04/04/2010

The article completely misses the fact that the USDA considers anything made from corn (e.g. sugar syrup) to fall under the "grain" category. Whole wheat is very nutritious, high in fiber and up to 15% protein depending on the variety. But note that America produces less than half as much wheat as China but well over twice as much corn (which is nutritionally empty by comparison).

Also, low-fat dairy (especially organic) is very nutritious, a great source of vitamins, minerals (e.g. calcium), and complete protein. The problem is that Americans eat a lot of cheese, which has a higher fat to protein ratio (because the whey is separated).

There are arguments to be made for soy milk, but other than lactose intolerance, they are mostly ecological in nature (i.e. feed conversion ratio of dairy cows), since organic cow milk is at least as nutritious if not more so.

Hemp milk, on the other hand, is hands down more nutritious (also more sustainable and delicious) than cow milk. But that's a whole other political issue...

[LyssaBarnes]

03:19 PM on 04/04/2010

Personally, I prefer nut milks but I don't consume complex grains in the form of cereals. I believe that just like animals eventually we should wean ourselves off milk, no matter where it comes from. A small amount of cheese is okay. The biggest difference for me in dairy is grain fed or grass fed. I do better with dairy products from grass fed cattle.

Our Whole Foods stores started carrying more local products. It might be a tad bit pricer, but it tastes so much better than something shipped from Chile.

[deepintheheartoftejas]

07:46 PM on 04/03/2010

The food pyramid is very dated. It dates back to the early 90s. We need a food model that better reflects twenty-first century science. It's time for a food dodecahedron--or perhaps even a food icosahedron.

[backekuchen]

09:55 AM on 04/03/2010

Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and sll the creatures that move on the ground---everything that has the breath of life in it---I give every green plant for food." And it was so. (Genesis 1:29-30)

I quote this not to advocate for vegetarianism, but to point out to all who accept the Biblical account that God did not include meat in our diet originally. Biblically speaking there was a perfect relationship in the beginning---God to human, human to human, human to nature, nature to nature---the four harmonies.

God created us with a free-will, which we still have. Satan suggested that humans could be like God if they ate from the forbidden tree. Humans made a bad choice, perhaps borne out of greed to have it better than they had. The four harmonies were fractured.

We still have choices, but don't always make the best. Even with knowledge we don't always make the best choices.

[totalliberal]

06:49 PM on 04/03/2010

Wasn't God insulted when Able or Cain only offered nuts and berries as a sacrifice, rather than an animal? Guess he likes those steaks.

[Vickster]

01:19 AM on 04/04/2010

Abel was the sheperd. Cain was the tiller of fields. God preferred Abel's rack of lamb to Cain's tabouli and so Cain killed Abel in a fit of jealous rage.

[backekuchen]

09:44 AM on 04/04/2010

This event happened after Adam and Eve were thrown out of the garden for their bad decision and attempt to "be like God". That's after the harmonies were broken.

[deepintheheartoftejas]

07:43 PM on 04/03/2010

Yeah, all creatures were vegetarians in the beginning. But the cats were miserable. God didn't given the proper teeth to eat vegetable matter.

[astraia]

08:39 AM on 04/03/2010

we shouldn't need a story like this, but unfortunately there is a need for a story like this.

[SangZe]

08:20 AM on 04/03/2010

Lotsa fat is good for the soul.

[quiviran]

12:52 AM on 04/03/2010

Michael Pollan has it: "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants".

[deepintheheartoftejas]

10:03 PM on 04/02/2010

What the federal government thinks we should eat? That's a bit of a joke. The food pyramid idea was poisoned from the start by lobbyists from the dairy and meat industries.

[bones1955]

08:42 AM on 04/03/2010

Exactly why the overseer of diet guide in Huntington, WV Food Revolution thinks french fries are a vegetable!

[totalliberal]

06:56 PM on 04/03/2010

They are. They're just 'deep-fried' vegetables. Deep-fryers are kind of like the microwave ovens of the South. Effin ya caint deep-fry it, don't buy it.

[Bartel5]

08:45 PM on 04/02/2010

I really don't take eating advice from govt agencies.

[totalliberal]

06:59 PM on 04/03/2010

Don't blame ya. That'd make you a Communist or somethin. (Maybe even a Narzi.)

[Katzencats]

06:06 PM on 04/04/2010

Thank you for my afternoon laugh. :D

[Ozark Homesteader]

07:31 PM on 04/02/2010

The article mentions meat company consolidation as a reason for falling prices of meat, but a substantial part of the cheapness of meat is agricultural price supports for corn and soy. It's our taxes that make meat more affordable than fresh fruits and vegetables. We could reduce the deficit and waistlines (or should I say waste-lines?) by completely overhauling the agricultural price support system.

Unfortunately, we'll need to remove Blanche "I-Love-Industrial-Ag" Lincoln as head of the Senate ag committee if that's going to happen. While Bill Halter had record-breaking fund raising in March--much more than Lincoln raised--her starting war chest was bigger, and she's still got 4 million on hand.

http://ozarkhomesteader.wordpress.com/

[coveark]

01:22 AM on 04/03/2010

Recently conversing with a local cattle man, I was informed that the price of beef on the hoof has just shot up.

being here in Arkansas , I agree.

Vote Halter !!

[coveark]

01:23 AM on 04/03/2010

Also, thanks for the link.

[trinity]

05:23 PM on 04/02/2010

I have a feeling the war between the Atkins pro-meat camp and the vegetarian camp will be starting shortly.

[jsarets]

11:49 PM on 04/02/2010

Starting shortly? The low-fat/low-carb wars have been raging for nearly a decade already.

[trinity]

08:27 AM on 04/03/2010

I was talking about on this particular thread...