Willet Food Guide Pyramid

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It seems every month someone comes up with a new version of the Food Guide Pyramid, but a New Mexico State University food and nutrition expert says some of these guides leave out important foods. Anna María Pérez-Wright explains.

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Ever since the U-S Department of Agriculture issued the Food Guide Pyramid in 1992 it seems others have been working to redesign it. Food and nutrition specialist Martha Archuleta with New Mexico State University's Cooperative Extension Service says Harvard researcher Walter Willet recently released a food guide pyramid that depicts a healthy way to eat, but isn't completely inclusive.

"It really emphasizes fruits and vegetables and oils from plant sources and those are all things that can contribute to a healthful diet. But, it also is not the only food pattern that can be helpful. I think particularly here in New Mexico, we've got a lot of foods that are not prominent in that particular pyramid, but are very healthy parts of our diet."

For example, Archuleta says, New Mexican staples of beans and chile aren't included in the Willet pyramid, but are very healthy foods. Beans are an excellent source of iron, potassium, selenium and folate. Chile provides vitamins A and C along with potassium and calcium. For N-M-S-U's College of Agriculture and Home Economics, I'm Anna María Pérez-Wright.