A Good Use of Taxpayer Money?

There is a lively debate occurring at all levels of government about how we need to cut spending in order to be more fiscally responsible.  Without turning this into a political discussion, I think most of us can identify areas where OUR money is being wasted without having to strain our eyes very hard.  

Case in point – Last week the USDA gave us a new guide to healthy eating, the colorful food plate shown above.  Granted it is simpler than the food pyramid, but is it really going to motivate anyone to eat a better diet?  And why should the obvious work product of big, commodity agriculture be the standard for what is a healthy diet?  Clearly it isn’t.

Personally I think the food plate as advocated by the folks at Nom Nom Paleo makes a lot more sense.

 Thoughts?

Recent Reads – February 6, 2011

Here are a few items that caught my eye during the past week:

• For a bit of inspiration, take a look at Dave Parsons’ story at Mark’s Daily Apple.   Below are his before and after photos (16 months apart).

• Dr. Kurt Harris at PaNu wrote an interesting post a couple of years ago called Eliminate sugar and refined carbohydrates like wheat flour.   For the average American, 22% of daily calories come from sugar and HFCS and 30% comes from wheat flour.

Unbelievable!  What a waste of an opportunity to eat something nutritious.

• The USDA has updated its dietary guidelines again (amazing what a room full of bureaucrats can dream up). 
  • For a thorough but simple overview of the changes, check out this post by Stephan Guyenet.
  • For the geeked-out, uber-detailed, smack down version, check out Denise Minger’s post.

 

•  Finally, if you would like to make progress like Dave Parsons, don’t emulate these folks who ran in the annual Krispy Kreme Challenge (over 5000 people entered).