WASHINGTON, D.C. – March 7 2012 – The National Chicken Council (NCC) today announced that they are teaming up with the nearly 6,000 USDA partners to make March 8, 2012, “What’s on MyPlate?” Day, to heighten public awareness of the importance of choosing foods for a healthy meal. NCC is committed to promoting a diet that reflects the latest recommendations in the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and highlights the message behind the new MyPlate food icon.
The MyPlate icon, unveiled last summer, is the fresh, new USDA food graphic replacing MyPyramid, and designed to be a visual cue to remind consumers to make healthful food choices. It supports the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, features the five food groups (fruits, vegetables, grains, protein and dairy), and points users to ChooseMyPlate.gov to learn about and apply the Guidelines for themselves.
The goal of “What’s on MyPlate?” Day is to create nationwide attention by using the outreach strength of social networks such as blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, to promote MyPlate and its related messages and resources like the new SuperTracker and the ChooseMyPlate.gov website. These resources empower consumers with the how-tos to build healthier plates. A key goal is to empower Partners and their constituents to take action on the message this quarter of the year, “Enjoy your food, but eat less,” tell their stories, and to share photographs of personal successes. Partners, along with the general public, can use the hash-tag #MyPlateYourPlate to aid the recognition of this social media event.
As part of this effort, NCC and the USDA Nutrition Communicators Network urge consumers to put MyPlate into action by taking a photo of their healthful plates to share on Twitter with the hash-tag #MyPlate. NCC and the USDA believe people can be inspired by seeing where and when consumers think about healthy eating. Snap a photograph of a MyPlate-style breakfast, lunch or dinner to share with the USDA Flickr Photo Group http://www.flickr.com/groups/choosemyplate/.
Those interested in becoming involved can sign up as a Community or National Strategic Partner by clicking on Partnering Program at ChooseMyPlate.gov, or follow USDA MyPlate on Twitter @MyPlate.
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