The dietary needs of individuals fluctuate like waves in the sea, yet the notion of a food pyramid remains prominent as a guide on the nutritional value of different food groups. Despite the wide distribution and use of this triangular diagram, there appears to be more flaws than fact.

The Food Pyramid: A History of Imperfections

The food pyramid has undergone many alterations throughout its time. Due to protests about overpriced food, the Swedish government created the chart to balance nutrition and price. Released in 1974, the food pyramid included basic foodstuffs dubbed necessary for a person’s wellbeing, “a centre and top of the pyramid represented complementary food providing vitamins and minerals not found in basic foodstuffs,” and an organizational structure depicting fruits and vegetables in the middle and meat, fish, and eggs on the top and therefore less important (Alimentarium, 2021).

It was not until the year 1992 when the United States of America would finalize an official food pyramid.

How Much Is a Serving Anyways?

A serving size is a seemingly simple unit of measurement depicting how much of a certain food you should eat daily. But how much is one serving? Do you know how much one serving of grains is? One serving of veggies? Maybe you were introduced to those elementary school comparisons of servings to inanimate objects, such as a computer mouse or tennis balls. Imagine preparing food and thinking, “Yeah, this looks like two baseballs worth of leafy greens.”

Thankfully, there are predetermined serving sizes for basic food components. For example, one serving of dairy is roughly one ounce of cheese or half a cup of frozen yogurt. But serving sizes are also determined by the manufacturer of products. There are many misconceptions about how large a serving is and how to convert metric measurements into actual food. For example, one deli bagel may have over four servings of grain, which seems like a lot. But the last food pyramid to present serving amounts was the 1992 diagram, which suggests a whopping six to eleven servings of grains daily.

New, Not Improved

In 2005, the company MyPyramid released what they believed to be an improved and more accurate version of the food pyramid, drawing on years of nutritional research.

However, the model does not even show any food! The clipart-like triangle depicts six stripes of color meant to distinguish between different food groups. However, it proves incredibly difficult to understand. For all the shortcomings of the first pyramid, at least it had actual food pictures. MyPyramid’s 2005 food pyramid provides little information when considering a nutritional diet: no food, no descriptions, no dietary information, only colors and the slogan “Steps to a Healthier You.” With this history of inaccuracy, finding the current food pyramid untrustworthy is reasonable. In fact, the current food pyramid isn’t even a pyramid.

It's a Plate.

That’s right! Replacing MyPyramid, the MyPlate lives up to its name, depicting dietary recommendations using a plate diagram.

Similar to the MyPlate food pyramid, both diagrams show colorful splotches of color, and no dietary information. At least the plate has actual food-related words on it, depicting the bare minimum; fruits, grains, vegetables, protein, and dairy. Where are fats and oils? No idea.

More Reliable Sources

Many improved versions of the food pyramid and the balanced plate diagram have been made. The website for Harvard's School of Public Health provides an in-depth explanation to a truly balanced, nutritional meal plan.