MyPlate.gov Brings Home Healthy Cultural Cuisine
Business Alignment·Digital Marketing·Market Research
The Challenge
In an effort to meet consumers where they are, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) aimed to broaden accessibility of MyPlate, a visual tool and collection of resources based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Market research from nutrition educators and dietitians across the country indicated that many underserved communities were looking for foods in the MyPlate Plan that more accurately reflected their cultural cuisines.
Our Approach
We formed a team of registered dietitians specializing in various cultural cuisines. The USDA identified approximately 6,000 foods and ingredients from the 2019-2020 Food Data Central, a data system containing a variety of sets of food and nutrient composition data. We developed a methodology that helped cultural experts identify and align thousands of food items with their appropriate cuisine(s). We collaborated with the same group of experts to collect numerous recipes for various popular cultural dishes. They assisted our team in preparing these dishes in a special kitchen, accompanied by a professional food photographer. Those photographs were uploaded to the MyPlate site to amplify promotional, informational, and educational efforts for the MyPlate program.
The Result
USDA now has a dataset of thousands of foods and ingredients deemed essential to 20+ cultural cuisines, along with their up-to-date nutrient information.
