Nanny State and Nanny Plate

Tam sent this article, which she called "an interesting review of a book I already passionately disagree with" -- an assessment with which I concur.

My mom well summed up one of the problems with letting the government make these kinds of decisions: The government has already proven they can't be trusted by pushing a food pyramid that recommends more daily servings of grains than fruit and vegetables.

I agree with this.  Remember this guy?

Although it is good that at least the most recent recommendation, shown in the MyPlate materials, does give twice as much of the plate over to fruit & veg as it does grains.  But do any nutritionists really think that even whole grains (and I assume that by "grains" in the image, the government intends to recommend whole grains?  Oops, no, they say only half need to be whole grains) are as healthy as fruit & veg?  A quick google search shows a few links to news that popcorn might be as healthy or healthier than (some) fruit & veg, but I mostly come up with links saying that grains are inferior. 

And one thing that really bugs me about the plate image is, Where is the fat?  I mean, look at it.

OK, they do say in the online materials that oils/fat need to be eaten, but the recommendations are, indeed, still whack.  I am amused that my daily recommended quantity of fat from all sources, preferably from poly- or monounsaturated oils (saturated fat to be avoided), is 5 teaspoons.  And I don't see any mention of omega-3 vs. omega-6 in the oils/fats discussion, which surprises me.  I thought even the most mainstream, deep-in-the-pockets-of-industrialized-grain-farming nutritionists were clear on the omega-3 issue.  Strange.