Anthropology of FoodUniversity of Minnesota Duluth

Tim Roufs©2009-2010

The USDAFood Guide Pyramid

The 1992 USDA food pyramid

The 1992 USDA food pyramid

the United StatesDepartment of Agriculture

is known widelyfor its “food guide pyramid” . . .

one of the most recognized logos in the world

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_guide_pyramid

The 1992 USDA food guide pyramid

The 1992 USDA food guide pyramid

this is the old (1992) version

Carol A. Bryant, Kathleen M. DeWalt, Anita Courtney and Jeffrey Schwartz

The Cultural Feast:An Introduction to Food and Society, 2nd Ed.

Belmont, CA: Thompson Wadsworth, 2003

the old (1992) version is on p. 82

A comparison of the USDA Food Guide Pyramid and Vegetarian Food Guide Pyramid

this is the old (1992) version

The Cultural Feast, 2nd Ed., p. 82

The current USDA food guide pyramid

this is the current version

The current USDA food guide pyramid

food guide pyramids come in

all cuisinesand all sizes and

shapes . . .

Mexican Food Guide Pyramidwww.semda.org/info/images/July99_new.gif

Japanese Food Guide Pyramidhttp://www.ethnicfoodsco.com/Japan/JapaneseFoodPyramid.htm

Asian Diet Food Guide Pyramid

A vegan version of the food guide pyramid

The current USDA food pyramid

but lots of places have alternate food guide pyramids that they follow . . .

July 19, 2009

http://www.ceche.org/mol/Spring-05/inside.html

Inflatable USDA Food Guide Pyramidwww.ethnicfoodsco.com/Japan/JapaneseFoodPyramid.htm

Inflatable USDA Food Guide Pyramidwww.ethnicfoodsco.com/Japan/JapaneseFoodPyramid.htm

but in one way or another . . .

Inflatable USDA Food Guide Pyramidwww.ethnicfoodsco.com/Japan/JapaneseFoodPyramid.htm

they are all “associated” with . . .

the USDA whose job it is

to promoteU.S.

agriculture

Marion Nestle

Food Politics: How the Food Industry

Influences Nutrition and Health

University of California Press 2007

Marion Nestle provides one of the best discussions — perhaps THE best discussion—

of the Food Guide Pyramid, and of the USDA(including the politics of the pyramid)