Spencer, IA: (May 30, 2012) - We are approaching the first anniversary of the MyPlate food icon.

In June 2011, First Lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack unveiled MyPlate, the federal government's primary food group symbol.

Development of MyPlate came as a result of a 2010 report of the White House Childhood Obesity Task Force. The report challenged USDA to design a new generation symbol that would inspire consumers to choose healthier foods at mealtimes, something simpler and more direct than MyPlate’s predecessor, the Food Pyramid.

MyPlate is a new generation icon with the intent to prompt consumers to think about building a healthy plate at meal times and to seek more information to help them do that by going to a website www.ChooseMyPlate.gov.

Since it was released, there have been over 7 million downloads of MyPlate graphics and other materials.