Departmental Papers (ASC)
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of this Version
7-2011
Publication Source
Design Issues
Volume
27
Issue
3
Start Page
60
Last Page
71
DOI
10.1162/DESI_a_00091
Abstract
In 1991 the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the creation of the Eating Right Pyramid, an icon designed to illustrate the federal government’s recommendations for a healthy diet. Even before its release, the Pyramid was a source of controversy; nutritionists and public health officials criticized the project as an exercise in jurisdictional malfeasance, while beef and dairy farmers complained that the new diet deemphasized the nutritional benefits of their products. The greatest source of conflict, however, did not derive from the information the guide displayed, but from the way in which that information was presented...
Copyright/Permission Statement
© 2011 MIT Press, Design Issues.
Recommended Citation
Perelman, A. (2011). The Pyramid Scheme: Visual Metaphors and the USDA’s Pyramid Food Guides. Design Issues, 27 (3), 60-71. https://doi.org/10.1162/DESI_a_00091
Date Posted: 03 January 2012
This document has been peer reviewed.