Food Pyramid

Hey I'm not sure if this is the correct place to post this... but it is about health so, I'm going to post it here.

For school I'm writing a paper on the United States Department of Agriculture Food Pyramid and whether or not the current version (MyPyramid) recommends the optimal dietary pattern for Americans. 

The research I've done leads me to believe that it does not, for a whole host of reasons. For one, the USDA is corrupted. The entire pyramid is formed by food lobbying, and all the advertisements are done by big business food industries. Also, the rates of obesity and chronic diseases continue to increase, so clearly part of the government's message is either inaccessible or inaccurate. Also, research is not based on and actually goes against scientific developments. The USDA even states that they base their pyramid on consumer research.

Anyways, I was just wondering what everyone here at CC's opinion was. I obviously can't use it for my paper, but I would just like to see some other points of view as I go deeper into my research.

Thanks!

As a student studying Nutrition Sciences I think that the Food Pyramid is a good visual example of a balanced diet. Overall, I think it's easier for Americans to look at the pyramid then to calculate their diet based on the 50-60% Carb, 30-35% Protein and 20-30% Fat ratios that is recommended to an average person. I use the MyPyramid website for schoolwork all the time and the website has a menu plan and a diet evaulator and you can imput your personal data for a personal food pyramid with suggestions of how to get your recommended servings per day with lots of variety.

Overall, I like the food pyramid.