My Pyramid Unveiled by the USDA

So this is what we've been waiting thirteen years for? You have got to be kidding! This is what a pr firm hired by the USDA for $2.5 million of our tax dollars came up with?

What was considered a dismal failure the last go-around will be eclisped by this USDA "My Pyramid" abomination. It can be found at mypyramid.gov.

I have many comments, so I will try to keep them brief:

• The My Pyramid symbol is a disgrace. There are no icons or text listing what the colored sections mean. Confusing is an understatement.
  
  
• You must go to their website to figure out what the symbol means. This wipes out many lower income and elderly citizens who do not have a computer or cannot afford internet access. When asked how somebody who cannot go on the internet get this information, the Agricultural Secretary said, "you would have to go to a health professional."
  
  
• As I anticipated, grain and milk make up the largest sections of My Pyramid.
  
  
• 85% of the pyramid is carbohydrates and milk products.
  
  
• They offer 12 inidivualized pyramids based on only three criteria: age, sex, and physical activity.
  
  
• Our agricultural secretary, when asked about his exercise regimen, did not even meet the minimum exercise requirements of My Pyramid, which is thirty minutes.
  
  
• The tiny sliver that is protein is called Meat and Beans. Beans are a vegetable. No mention of fish.
  
  
• Healthy Oils are thrown in with discretionary calories in the tiniest slice.

One should not be surprised, but outraged nonetheless. This was a golden opportunity to seize the moment in a time where our country is fatter and sicker than it has ever been. What have we done? We have let special interests run the show and we will be worse off because of it.

The Director of the Center for Food and Nutrition Policy said that a food chart could not be done in one icon. That's the reason for the twelve pyramids. We disagree. Our Circle of Health proves that it can be done and done well.

Bonnie