MyPlate! If you haven’t already heard, this is the new icon from the USDA that has replaced the ol’ food pyramid. For our Mendocino County teen peer nutrition educators… the BEANS team… this means a slight shift in the way some of our lessons are taught. The BEANS team is studying MyPlate to figure out the ways to present this new information to school kids throughout the county. What does the BEANS team like best about MyPlate? That it graphically shows how half of every meal should be fruits and vegetables.
Ever notice that lots of ads and magazine food photos usually show a big piece of meat filling half the plate, a small side of rice, and 3 or 4 pieces of a vegetable? Well, this is what the BEANS team is out to change! They’d like to show school kids a new way to build a meal… with colorful fruits and veggies filling half the plate! Their first project will be to cut and paste foods from grocery store ads onto a paper plate… to practice filling half the plate with garden-fresh produce. Their next project will be to take the kids on a visit to their school garden. They will harvest some veggies together and use them to cook up a great meal.
I’ll be sure to take some photos of the kids’ meals… with tasty veggies filling half their plates! Stay tuned to the Real Dirt Blog… in November, I’ll show the kids in action.
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