Nutritional Literacy Anthology
If this was a prezi, it would have been so much cooler.
By: Talitha Koehler, apparent food snob
In the United States in 2011, the definition of “food” is changing and there are so many more
choices than because of it. Twinkies have become only one of many different non-food items
now available at the grocery store (others include Bac-O’s, Diet Pepsi, and blue Jell-O). Food is
fast and now given greater importance if it can be convenient and tasty (a.k.a. teeming with
added salt and sugar), rather than nutritionally beneficial. Processed foods are profitable, thus
the companies that make such items continue to encourage support from the American people.
It is because of this new array of food choices that there exists a growing need for nutritional
literacy. Because it can be hard to navigate, many systems have been implemented that attempt
to simplify healthy eating. Some are more effective than others, yet obesity rates are still rising,
signifying the lack of real efficacy of any. There needs to be more of an emphasis on the right
kind of information. Our survival depends on it. But first, we have to figure out what the right
information is.
Food rating systems that associate a number, letter grade, or point value to food attempt to
make nutrition accessible to those that would otherwise not know. A NuVal score is given to
nearly every item in King Soopers, helping people decide between two similar items. However, it
does not help put food in context. How often should one eat kale or oranges? The science
behind NuVal seems to make the public’s health its greatest concern. It factors in things like iron,
calcium, trans fats, and sodium. Yet we are left unsure as to how much iron or calcium we need
or how little trans fats and sodium we should ingest. The ANDI can be seen at Whole Foods, thus
reaching a different clientele. It also is not on every item in the store, purposefully avoiding most
processed foods. The fooducate app is only available to those with fancy enough phones to
download it. A separate screen attempts to explain the rating, but only as far as a phone app
can.
Food categorization systems allow consumers to choose their own foods while applying some
reasoning to each decision. These systems place more emphasis on certain categories than
others, while simultaneously teaching the importance of each category. These categories,
however, are not the source of healthy living. Unhealthy foods can fit into most of the groups as
well. None of them seem to acknowledge diets of other cultures that are strikingly different, yet
sustain their peoples as well as ours, if not better. Examples include “the Inuit in Greenland
[who] subsist largely on seal blubber,” “Central American Indians [who] subsist largely on maize
and beans,” and “Masai tribesmen in Africa [who] subsist cheifly on cattle blood, meat, and
milk” (Pollan, xii). There is a benefit to these systems, though. They simplify food into groups.
They are easy to access and easy to understand. They also help people differentiate vegetables
from meat.
Food companies have long been under the scrutiny of nutritionists. Some believe the lack of
information given by these companies is what is leading to our high obesity rates. To counteract
these accusations, companies have started to provide nutritional information for those willing to
seek it out. This means that websites are full of facts, but the storefronts still lack them. Finding
examples of companies’ attempts to educate the public were hard, especially when illiteracy can
increase profits.
Finally, this anthology places different sets of food rules together. These are in simple language.
They take into account the many different sides of nutrition. WIC and food assistance programs
account for class disparities and only allow certain foods to be bought with government money.
Michael Pollan’s rules are collected from many different sources and are available to many
different people. He lists Chinese proverbs and advice from your grandmother. Mostly, though,
his rules boil down to “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly Plants.”
In Lives on the Boundary by Mike Rose, literacy is discussed as a complicated issue. An IQ test or
other assessment may say something about a student, but cannot explain the intricacies of
someone’s literacy. In fact, classifying a student as a simple test score causes more problems in
his or her ability to learn. The same is true with grammar rules. Because a student has issues
with spelling or sentence structure, he or she is often assumed to have no critical thinking skills.
These exist independently, though. And just as a score cannot completely describe a person, a
number cannot fully describe a food item, nor can a weight account for a person’s level of
nutritional literacy. Because a person is unaware of the caloric value of a Big Mac, doesn’t
necessarily mean that person lacks the critical thinking it takes to understand how unhealthy it
is.
Deborah Brandt, in Literacy in American Lives, also discusses the limitations of basing literacy
studies on “indirect evidence such as signature rates, book circulation, or the growth of
schooling… standardized test scores or education levels or surveys of reading habits” (Brandt,
10). She chose instead to “characterize literacy not as it registers on various scales but as it is
lived” (Brandt, 11). Similarly, nutritional literacy can only be understood once we see how obese
people live, why they make the decisions they do, and how those decisions can change.
There are many similarities to the attitudes of those who are overweight or obese and the
Hallway Hangers in Ain’t No Makin’ It. They don’t see the bigger picture. They just don’t see how
changing habits will create success. They need to see someone in their situation excel in order
to understand their own abilities. And just as the Hallway Hangers were born of the same
situation and continued the social constructions through their own children, so too are the
dietary habits of children born from the unhealthy eating habits of their parents.
Table of Contents:
Section I: Food Rating Systems….……………………..slide 6
ANDI………………………………………………………………………..7
NuVal……………………………………………………………………….8
Fooducate………………………………………………………………..9
Section II: Food Categorization Systems…………. slide 10
ANDI’s food pyramid……………………………………………….11
1992 USDA Food Pyramid……………………………………….12
2005 USDA MyPyramid…………………………………………..13
2011 USDA MyPlate………………………………………..………14
Section III: Companies’ Attempts to Educate…..slide 15
McDonald’s wrapper……………………………………………….16
100 calorie snacks…………………………………………………..17
Smart Choices Made Easy……………………………………….18
Section IV: Food Rules………………………………….… slide 19
WIC guidelines………………………………………………………..20
Allowed foods with Food Assistance……………………….21
Micheal Pollan’s Food Rules…………………………………….22
Works Cited…………………………………………………….slide 23
Section I
• Food rating systems
– Often a number or letter grade, these ratings are
given without an explanation. The science behind
them is rarely seen, available online but not on the
product itself.
– They are created by non-government organizations
and therefore do not have to follow the guidelines of
the USDA.
– Scientifically comparing positive attributes of the food
to the negative, these systems allow the benefits of
fruits and vegetables to shine without having to
classify them separate from processed foods.
However, there is no explanation of when certain lowscoring foods can be eaten or when they should be
avoided. Sometimes a 35 is better for the situation
than a 72, but when?
The ANDI (Aggregate Nutrient
Density Index) Score
Can be seen at Whole Foods
Quinoa=21
Source: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/healthstartshere/andi.php
NuVal (Nutritional Value) Scores
Can be seen at City Market and
King Soopers
CocaCola=1
Source: http://www.nuval.com/science
The Fooducate app grades almost anything with a barcode.
Tortilla chips=C+
Source: http://www.fooducate.com/
Section II
• Food categorization systems
– These attempts to create food categories allow the
consumer to have more freedom in choosing what
foods to eat.
– While additional advice is often given, the pyramid or
plate only offers serving recommendations of specific
food groups. This may lead some to eat pizza and
french fries (which are both vegetables) with
chocolate milk, a very unhealthy meal. There is no
calorie cutoff included in the pyramid.
– Most of these systems are created for USDA use and
hopefully created with concern for the public’s health,
yet the USDA has interests in the success of
agriculture and pyramid promotion is often sponsored
by the Dairy Council. The adherence to such a system,
then, might not be the healthiest choice overall.
ANDI’s food pyramid
Categories: Vegetables, Fruit, Nuts/Seeds, Beans, Whole Grains/Starchy Vegetables
There is an emphasis on vegetables and fruit. Processed foods are mentioned near the
bottom.
Source: http://www.goodlifer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/GL_ANDIscore2.jpg
USDA’s (United States
Department of
Agriculture)
Food Pyramid from
1992
Categories:
Fats/Oils/Sweets,
Milk/Yogurt/Cheese,
Meat/Poultry,
Vegetable, Fruit,
Bread/Rice.
The emphasis here is
bread, cereal, rice, and
pasta.
Source: http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2000/document/images/pyramidbig.jpg
USDA’s MyPyramid from 2005
Categories: Grains,
Vegetables, Fruits,
Milk, Meat and Beans
The categories are
more evenly sized and
the idea of exercise is
included.
Source: http://www.mypyramid.org/plan.php
USDA’s MyPlate from 2011
Categories: Fruits, vegetables,
grains, protein, dairy
Exercise is no longer included, but
the idea that fruits and
vegetables should take up half
your plate is introduced. Dairy is
still mentioned specifically, rather
than foods containing calcium.
Source: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/
Section III
• Companies’ Attempts to Educate
– While seemingly educational, these attempts are
rarely influential in the overall health of the consumer.
– They are aimed at gaining the trust of customers
without aiding in the development of nutritional
literacy.
– Even with a healthy choice logo or 100 calorie limit,
the foods that these particular systems choose to
label are unhealthy. These examples include
McDonald’s cheeseburgers, cookies, and chips.
McDonald’s wrapper with nutritional information
Information listed: calories, protein, fat, carbs, sodium
This is controversial, since viewing the information after you’ve
received your food is not helpful in making a decision based on that
information.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/26/business/26food.html
Sample of the many 100 calorie snacks available
Information listed: Calories
These snacks don’t inform the consumer how many calories should be ingested per day.
Source: google.com
SMART CHOICES MADE EASY
Source: http://www.smartchoicesprogram.com/nutrition.html
Information listed: Umm… it’s a smart choice?
It’s hard to learn anything from a green circle.
Source: http://www.shapingyouth.org/?p=5222
• Food Rules
Section IV
– Rather than explain how and where a food item may
fit into your diet, as was the case with all three of the
previous systems, these rules attempt to eradicate
unhealthy choices all together.
– These rules account for much more than the
numerical input of previous systems, instead
emphasizing a variety of whole foods. For example,
chocolate milk and chips are unnecessary and should
therefore be avoided.
– The greatest effect comes from the artifacts in this last
section. Diet is changed most drastically here. Yet the
ability to survive without nutritional literacy is also
greatest here. But that is exactly what Michael Pollan
suggests we need, a food system that allows for low
nutritional literacy because unhealthy choices simply
do not exist.
WIC
WIC has specific foods
that are authorized. The
WIC check has them
listed.
Source: http://dhss.delaware.gov/dph/chca/dphwichominf01.html
Source: http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/WIC-Fact-Sheet.pdf
Food Stamps/ Food Assistance Programs
The government states explicitly
what food can or cannot be bought
with this money.
Source: http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/CDHS-SelfSuff/CBON/1251582131809
Food Rules by Michael Pollan
Major Rules: Eat food. Not too much.
Mostly plants.
Encompassing ideas such as
hunger and the psychology
behind eating makes this book
so much farther-reaching than
any numerical system could be.
Source: http://michaelpollan.com/books/food-rules-illustrated-edition/
Works Cited
Brandt, Deborah. Literacy in American Lives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2001.
MacLeod, Jay. Ain't No Makin' It: Aspirations and Attainment in a Low-Income
Neighborhood. Boulder: Westview, 2009.
Pollan, Michael. Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual. Penguin Books, 2009.
Rose, Mike. Lives on the Boundary: A Moving Account of the Struggles and
Achievements of America’s Educationally Underprepared. Penguin Books. 1989.