Earlier this month the Department of Agriculture replaced the outdated food pyramid with Myplate. Myplate is a simple way to remind yourself to make good food choices. The plate is split into for sections fruits, vegetables, grains and proteins and adds a small cup on the side for dairy products. In fact half of the plate is made up of fruits and vegetables, just the thing that Chef from We Eat Food That’s Fresh would encourage. Using the plate is a easy way to show children what they should be on their plates. One additional thing that the new Myplate icon does is show a variety of colors which hopefully will remind us to make our plates and those of our kids colorful. Here is a summary of the USDA guidelines issued in 2010 and represented by Myplate.

Fruits

Any fruit or 100% fruit juice counts as part of the Fruit Group. Fruits may be fresh, canned, frozen, or dried, and may be whole, cut-up, or pureed. Of course the Chef suggests fresh fruit.

Vegetables

Any vegetable or 100% vegetable juice counts as a member of the Vegetable Group. Vegetables may be raw or cooked; fresh, frozen, canned, or dried/dehydrated; and may be whole, cut-up, or mashed. The Chef says the more color the better and raw vegetables retain more of their nutritional value.

Grains

Any food made from wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, barley or another cereal grain is a grain product. Bread, pasta, oatmeal, breakfast cereals, tortillas, and grits are examples of grain products. The Chefs suggestion is whole  grains over

Proteins

All foods made from meat, poultry, seafood, beans and peas, eggs, processed soy products, nuts, and seeds are considered part of the Protein Foods Group. Beans and peas are also part of the Vegetable Group. The Chef wants you to not get fooled a number of foods contain protein not just meats, even foods contained in the other food groups.

Dairy

All fluid milk products and many foods made from milk are considered part of this food group. Most Dairy Group choices should be fat-free or low-fat. Foods made from milk that retain their calcium content are part of the group. Foods made from milk that have little to no calcium, such as cream cheese, cream, and butter, are not. Calcium-fortified soymilk (soy beverage) is also part of the Dairy Group.

Look for additional posts related to kids nutrition, eating fresh foods and Myplate.