365 Ways #113–The truth behind the USDA’s Food Pyramid

#113–Luise Light, the creator of the Food Pyramid which was introduced to Americans in 1992, says that her original pyramid was corrupted. “Instead of fruits and vegetables making up the base of the diet,” she wrote, “the cereals and wheat products were made the base of the pyramid, and the recommendation [for starchy foods] was no longer 2 to 4 as we had determined but switched 6 to 11 servings! We couldn’t believe it!”

She goes on to say that “…the health consequences of encouraging the public to eat so much refined grain, which the body processes like sugar, was frightening! But our exhortations to the political heads of the agency fell on deaf ears. The new food guide, replacing the ‘Basic Four,’ would be a promotional tool to get the public to buy and consume more calories, sugar and starch.”

Let’s call it what it is: the American Feedlot Pyramid.