Dietary Goals And Guidelines
The policy chronology needs exact dates.
In 1977, the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, chaired by George McGovern, released Dietary Goals for the United States. It urged Americans to reduce fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sugar, and salt, while increasing complex carbohydrates.1
In 1980, USDA and HHS issued the first Dietary Guidelines for Americans.2
The 1992 Food Guide Pyramid then translated guidance into an image. In 2005, MyPyramid replaced it. In 2011, MyPlate replaced MyPyramid with a plate graphic.3
This is not a straight line from church to state.
It is a policy line shaped by nutrition science, agriculture, public-health messaging, industry pressure, and the need for simple advice.
Yet the cultural resonance of grain at the base was real. A society trained to hear bread as provision could easily understand grains as the floor of a healthy diet.
The next section names the famous number.
Related sections: Before The Pyramid; Six To Eleven Servings.
Footnotes
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United States Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, Dietary Goals for the United States, 2nd ed. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1977). Primary source. ↩
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United States Department of Agriculture and United States Department of Health and Human Services, Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans (Washington: USDA/HHS, 1980). Primary source. ↩
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USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, MyPyramid Food Guidance System launch materials, 2005; USDA, MyPlate launch materials, June 2011. Primary institutional sources. ↩