New graphics can be good for you

First lady Michelle Obama has partnered with the US Department of Agriculture to create a new healthy eating campaign. Let’s be honest, whether it’s dulce de lece ice cream or burgers, we all have secret, guilty food pleasures. healthy eating doesn’t have great appeal. Previous campaigns used the “pyramid” graphic: 1. a food pyramid, that made every meal look like a chore, and 2., a logo composed of a man walking up the stairs of a pyramid. Where was he going?

Michelle Obama and the Department of Agriculture have come up with something a lot more fun-looking: a plate divided into bright-colored sections for vegetables, fruits, protein, grains, and dairy. According to Core77 design magazine:

“The plate was created by the Department of Agriculture with input from the first lady’s anti-obesity team and federal health officials. The agriculture department said that it conducted focus groups with about 4,500 people, including children, as they developed the new icon. Developing the icon and creating a Web site and other educational materials to go along with it cost about $2 million. That money will also help pay for an educational campaign centered on the plate icon over the next year…”

It’s a fun icon. The rounded edges make it look a bit like a yogurt top that could just be peeled right off. And, while it may not be what the First Lady and the health experts imagined, I kinda picture dulce de lece in the designated dairy section.

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