Over a decade ago, Comedy Central’s South Park joked about the flipping of the food pyramid. This January, the latest change made to the famous graphic turned the comedy sketch into reality.
“The United States is amid a health emergency.” The United States Department of Agriculture informed, “Nearly 90 percent of health care spending goes to treating people who have chronic diseases.”
“Many of these illnesses are not genetic destiny; they are the predictable result of the Standard American Diet,” the report continued.
This diet, according to the previous pyramid, focused on grains, fruits and vegetables, whilst avoiding meals high in fat.
However, since the pyramid was first designed in 1974, grains have become generally more processed—taking away important nutrition from bread, cereal, rice and pasta.
Among other studies and an ever growing pandemic of health issues, the USDA decided that it’s time for a change, flipping the pyramid to focus on foods heavy in healthy fats whilst minimizing the amount of grains.
The question is whether people will change their diet to meet the USDA’s new recommendations.
“I take my own route of staying healthy and eating what I need to eat, but for certain people it is a good way to keep on a balanced diet,” answered Aiden Downes ’26.
Other students like Noah Santiago ’26 agreed, saying, “It’s not bad to switch it up. Carbs are important, but fat itself is essential to survive… It’s a good change.”
While the new change in the food pyramid might not affect a lot of people who decide their own diet. This could prove to be beneficial for those who do use the USDA’s recommended diet.
“We’ve already been following these guidelines prioritizing proteins, using carbs as a supplement,” Ryan Jones ‘09, strength and conditioning coach at Riordan noted.
“Using [the food pyramid] as a guideline, focus on what your body needs as opposed to what it wants. Everyone wants Captain Crunch. No one wants to have an egg white, right?”
Overall, the new food pyramid has been designed to prevent the American obesity epidemic through the new knowledge behind what we eat. The important thing to do is decide what your individual body needs.
