Find Healthy Recipes
In 2011 former First Lady Michelle Obama and former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack unveiled the federal government’s food icon, MyPlate, a reminder to help consumers make healthier food choices. The MyPlate icon replaced the Food Guide Pyramid and emphasizes the fruit, vegetable, grains, protein, and dairy food groups.
Tips from the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans:
Balancing Calories
– Enjoy your food, but eat less.
– Avoid oversized portions.
Foods to Increase
– Make half your plate fruits and vegetables.
– Make at least half your grains whole grains.
– Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk.
Foods to Reduce
– Compare sodium in foods like soup, bread, and frozen meals ― and choose the foods with lower numbers.
– Drink water instead of sugary drinks.
Food in Los Angeles County:
What surrounds us shapes us, and in Los Angeles there are often barriers that make healthy choices the difficult choices. Many residents live in neighborhoods with an abundance of cheap, low-nutrient, high-calorie food, but with limited access to affordable fresh fruits and vegetables.
Some families must travel miles from their neighborhood to purchase healthy foods at reasonable prices, and fruits and vegetables are often more costly than calorie-dense foods of lower nutritional quality. To address obesity, we must ensure that every neighborhood, school and workplace has access to affordable healthy foods and beverages.
Find a Farmers Market that accept CalFresh/EBT
