25 Ways to Promote MyPlate

cookingmyplatenutrition basic
Written By Judy Doherty, MPS, PCII

National Nutrition Month is finally here! To celebrate, I want to share an extra-special post with you — 25 ways to promote MyPlate! MyPlate is chock-full of great ideas for balanced and healthy eating. Here are some fun ways teach your clients about MyPlate…

  1. Demonstrate a fast food meal makeover. Make one plate with fries and a supersize burger, make the other plate using the same foods but with a MyPlate plate that is half salad, with half of a burger as the grain and protein. This demo can illustrate how a value meal split between two people with the addition of a salad is a good alternative to traditional fast food dining.
  2. Have the audience calculate the calories and calorie savings from activity number one.
  3. Do a MyPlate trivia challenge! Games are great for teaching important health lessons in an engaging and memorable way.
  4. Name our favorite vegetables. Write down each answer as people provide it.
  5. Name our favorite fruits. Compile a list of everyone's favorites and post it somewhere in the room for later reference.
  6. Name our favorite protein options. Emphasize variety.
  7. Name our favorite whole grains. Record all the answers and send them in a later email as a reminder of healthy options.
  8. Name our favorite dairy choices. Are they good sources of calcium?
  9. Once you've brainstormed all those favorite foods, figure out how to mix and match them to make a healthy plate. You can do this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
  10. Give a MyPlate cooking demonstration. Offer samples for each food, and consider presenting your finished dish on these plastic MyPlate plates!
  11. What did you eat last night? Draw plates as the audience tells you about each meal, and then see how each one can be converted to more closely match MyPlate.
  12. Put up a MyPlate poster or two in an easily-visible location. It's a great reminder to follow MyPlate.
  13. Which group do I belong to? Print or cut out colorful images of foods and ask the audience which food group they belong to. Include a few tricky ones like legumes, which can go into the protein or vegetable group.
  14. Play a MyPlate game! The MyPlate Makeover poster offers some fun interactive activities.
  15. How can I be whole? Name 10 refined grains and ask the audience to convert them to better whole grain choices. Remind them that MyPlate asks for half of your grains to be whole grains each day.
  16. Use this new MyPlate Activity page.
  17. Give a pop quiz: how much of your plate should be filled with fruits and veggies?
  18. Give a presentation about the basics of MyPlate. Explore each food group, discuss healthy choices, and offer lots of time for questions. The MyPlate PowerPoint that my team and I made is a great resource for this presentation.
  19. Try a few MyPlate coloring pages. You can get the whole book here, or try the free sample page featured in the post MyPlate Coloring Page.
  20. Upload photos of lunch and dinner plates to your social media pages like Facebook or Instagram. Encourage people to post their photos too!
  21. Take an online tour of ChooseMyPlate.gov and show everyone how to research each food group.
  22. Show everyone how to use SuperTracker!
  23. Make every day of one month dedicated to trying a new vegetable.
  24. Make each day of the week dedicated to a flavor people can add to their water to wean them off soda.
  25. Have a tea tasting event so folks can try some delicious teas that are not sweetened with sugar. Why not add a fruit and veggie plate, too?

There are lots of other MyPlate educational resources in the Nutrition Education Store! Here are some of the most popular materials...

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Judy Doherty, MPS, PCII

Judy’s passion for cooking began with helping her grandmother make raisin oatmeal for breakfast. From there, she earned her first food service job at 15, was accepted to the world-famous Culinary Institute of America at 18 (where she graduated second in her class), and went on to the Fachschule Richemont in Switzerland, where she focused on pastry arts and baking. After a decade in food service for Hyatt Hotels, Judy launched Food and Health Communications to focus on flavor and health. She graduated with Summa Cum Laude distinction from Johnson and Wales University with a BS in Culinary Arts, holds a master’s degree in Food Business from the Culinary Institute of America, two art certificates from UC Berkeley Extension, and runs a food photography & motion studio where her love is creating fun recipes and content.

Judy received The Culinary Institute of America’s Pro Chef II certification, the American Culinary Federation Bronze Medal, Gold Medal, and ACF Chef of the Year. Her enthusiasm for eating nutritiously and deliciously leads her to constantly innovate and use the latest nutritional science and Dietary Guidelines to guide her creativity, from putting new twists on fajitas to adapting Italian brownies to include ingredients like toasted nuts and cooked honey. Judy’s publishing company, Food and Health Communications, is dedicated to her vision that everyone can make food that tastes as good as it is for you.

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