Home  |   Outline  |   FAQ  |   Search  |   Feedback

II. Official Recommendations

    

The Food Guide Pyramid

The Food Guide Pyramid of the United States government graphically represents official recommendations for what Americans should eat on a daily basis. Other countries have analogous graphic representations.

Explore

The food pyramid graphic is linked from http://www.nalusda.gov/fnic/Fpyr/pyramid.html.

Interpretation

• The broad base should be the basis of our diets.
• Items at the narrow top should be used sparingly.
• Intermediate amounts of intermediate items should be consumed.
• Tiny circles and triangles indicate fat (total) and sugars (added).

Some foods may be classified in either of two groups. E.g.

• Corn could be a grain or a vegetable.
• Some legumes, like dried beans or lentils, could be a meat or a vegetable.

Problem: some people interpret items at the top as being most highly desired.

Explore: The United States Department of Agriculture has provided an interactive food pyramid that expands upon and interprets the information in the graphic.