It's going to be a lot easier to tell if a recipe is pretty nutritious or a diet disaster.
First
lady Michelle Obama is unveiling a plan today that will flag thousands
of healthy recipes that align with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
guidance for healthy eating and the MyPlate icon (choosemyplate.gov).
Five
media companies - Condé Nast Magazines, Hearst Magazines, Meredith,
Food Network and Time Inc. with 18 cooking websites, from AllRecipes.com
to FoodNetwork.com to GoodHousekeeping.com - are working with the first
lady's Let's Move! (letsmove.gov) campaign to identify the
MyPlate-worthy recipes. More than 3,000 recipes will be featured on a new Pinterest page.
"This
partnership takes the guesswork out of finding healthy recipes and
gives parents the information and the tools they need to make healthy
choices for their families every day," Mrs. Obama said in a statement.
The
recipes may be for an entrée or a side dish that meets at least one
part of the MyPlate criteria, such as having a lean protein, whole grain
or fruit or vegetable, says Sam Kass, assistant chef and senior policy
adviser for Healthy Food Initiatives at the White House.
The U.S.
Department of Agriculture "is also partnering in this effort to ensure
that the recipes align with the dietary guidelines and have limited
added sugar and saturated fat and are low in sodium," he says.
The MyPlate icon on recipes "is a simple tool and a tool that can be
incredibly powerful for families," Kass says. The Pinterest page will
help families share recipes they like, he says. "Cooking a new dish is a
risk for parents, because if the kids don't like it, you have a problem
on your hands."
Elizabeth Ward, a registered dietitian in Boston and author of MyPlate for Moms, How to Feed Yourself & Your Family Better, calls the MyPlate icon "the program in its simplest form - a visual reminder of what to put on your plate.
"The
overall MyPlate program suggests that you enjoy your food without
eating too many calories, eat a variety of protein-rich foods, make half
of your plate fruits and vegetables (but not fried or slathered in
butter), make sure half of the grains you consume are whole grains,
drink fat-free or low-fat 1% milk, use healthy oils such as canola and
olive oil."
The first lady is celebrating the third anniversary of
her "Let's Move!" initiative to combat childhood obesity. About a third
of kids and teens are overweight or obese, putting them at a greater
risk of developing a host of debilitating and costly diseases, including
type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
The
publications that are participating in the MyPlate recipe program
include Allrecipes.com; Better Homes & Gardens (bhg.com);
CookingLight.com; CountryLiving.com; Delish.com; Diabeticliving.com;
EatingWell.com; Epicurious.com; Everyday With Rachael Ray
(rachaelraymag.com); FamilyCircle.com; FoodNetwork.com;
GoodHousekeeping.com; MyRecipes.com; Parents.com; RealSimple.com;
Redbook.com; Recipe.com; Woman'sDay.com. Collectively, those websites
attracted 150 million page views in January.
Written By: Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY