Last week the USDA rolled out its revised food pyramid containing guidance for what Americans aspiring to good health should eat, replacing the “MyPlate” visual that had been in place since 2011. Plenty of dietitians and other clinically-qualified commentators have already assessed the graphics and contents (TL;DR: very mixed reviews.) I won’t spend a whole lot of time here telling you whether I think the guidance is good or bad - except for one thing:
USDA, I find your lack of beans disturbing.
Sure, there’s a little bowl of what I’m told is rice with beans in the lower left, just before the “you’re not cute enough for this club” line under which the whole grains are segregated. But you’d be forgiven for missing it and instead taking home the message that you’d be better off eating a block of Swiss cheese. And although I’d be the last person to pretend cheese isn’t delicious - and even good for you! - the mountain of evidence1 in favor of legumes amounts to - if you’ll forgive me - more…
