The U.S. government is revising the dietary guidelines and the food pyramid. Yes, again.

How many of us know the federal dietary guidelines? Did you know the food pyramid – now MyPyramid – was completely revamped five years ago? It’s been largely touted as a failure.

Current U.S. Food Pyramid

Brothers Chip Heath and Dan Heath co-authored Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard. It’s a fabulous read. If you liked their earlier book, Made to Stick, you’ll love Switch. In it, they discuss (among other things) the failures of MyPyramid – mainly that it’s not concrete enough for Americans to make any change. The concept is too abstract. Besides seeing that we should exercise, we aren’t quite sure what else to do with the colored triangles in order to eat healthier. Interestingly enough, MyPyramid was created via a “multi-year, multiple component research process.”

Maybe next time the US government should hire Chip Heath and Dan Heath to help?