Celebrating a MyPlate Birthday to Positively Impact Community Health

By: Krystal Register, MS, RDN, LDN, Senior Director, Health & Well-being, FMI

I love a good celebration. Particularly one that includes good food, amazing people and a solid commitment. To properly celebrate MyPlate's 12th Birthday, USDA and the Food and Nutrition Service’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP) held an in-person MyPlate National Strategic Partner meeting in Chicago at the Goya Learning Kitchen earlier this month. I had the pleasure of joining in the celebration with the CNPP team and so many other MyPlate Partners committed to the mission of sharing messages from the Dietary Guidelines and working together to bring nutrition education (and a little fun around food) to all Americans.

As part of the gathering, I had the pleasure of meeting and celebrating MyPlate with Dr. Caree Cotwright, the new director of nutrition security and health equity for the USDA. Dr. Cotwright is on a steadfast mission to, “make MyPlate a household brand” while affording all households access to healthy, safe and affordable foods. We stand by this charge and look forward to our continued collaboration, which directly aligns with the FMI commitment announced at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health to reach 100 million consumers with evidence-based messaging.

The basic message of MyPlate is simply put, “The benefits of healthy eating add up over time, bite by bite. Small changes matter. Start Simple with MyPlate.”

Amidst our many recent conversations around defining “healthy,” meaningful front-of-pack labeling and dietary guidance, it is incredibly important that we harmonize our pitch to empower consumers to make personalized choices for better health with evidence-based messaging. MyPlate.gov is the visual guide that represents the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025, designed to help people of all ages make small changes that can have positive effects that add up over time.

As a MyPlate National Strategic Partner, FMI remains in step with the mission to raise awareness for MyPlate to ensure that more Americans have access to nutritious food and the tools they need to make healthier choices, all while recognizing the importance of keeping things practical, meaningful and fun. 

To learn more about becoming a MyPlate partner check out my blog post on the topic.