USDA goes online to boost consumers’ healthy eating

24-Sep-2009 - Last updated on 25-Sep-2009 at 14:17 GMT

Three new online tools have been launched by the United States Department of Agriculture to persuade consumers to make healthier eating choices and to promote a better understanding of farmers’ role as food producers.

The new nutritional tools, which are part of the department’s Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative, include: Growing a Healthier You: Nutrition From the Farm to the Table, MyFood-a-pedia, and 10 Tips Series.

Growing a Healthier You: Nutrition From the Farm to the Table is a new web page for USDA’s MyPyramid food guidance system. The page links garden and farm produce to consumers’ nutritional well-being and the significance of locally-grown fruits and vegetables. Located at www.cnpp.usda.gov/KnowYourFarmer.htm, it will promote national initiatives such as National Nutrition Month and feature facts about specific fruits, vegetables and other foods.

Nutrition information

MyFood-a-pedia is a new online tool that gives consumers quick access to nutrition information for more than 1,000 foods. In addition to calorie count information on the five food groups needed for healthy eating, www.MyFoodapedia.gov also details extra calories from solid fats, added sugars, and alcohol.

The 10 Tips Series, to be found at www.MyPyramid.gov, features specific advice as part of a nutrition education series. The 10 Tips begins with cutting back on salt and sodium and also includes advice for making more environmentally friendly food choices.

John Webster, Center for Nutrition Policy’s director of public affairs told FoodNavigator-USA.com: “As people become more urbanised, when people think of food, they tend to think of the grocery store not the farm where it’s produced. We want to change that and help Americans make healthier food choices.”

Long standing ties

Commenting on the three new web tools, agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack said: "There is a disconnect between the farmer and the food that consumers buy and we want to re-connect these long standing ties between the people who produce the food and those who purchase and prepare it. These new online tools will help do that."

Vilsack launched the initiative Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food last week to begin what the USDA describes as: “A national conversation about food.”

The aim, according to the department, is to: “…help connect people more closely with the farmers who supply their food and to lift the production, marketing and consumption of fresh, nutritious food that is grown locally in a sustainable manner.”