2024 National Nutrition Month®: Beyond the Plate

Eating is multifaceted and involves much more than we may think about on a daily basis. This year, National Nutrition Month is focusing on Beyond the Plate, to help us not only think about the foods we eat, but also how eating affects our health and environment. This includes how the food choices we make can affect the health of our planet, how the food is grown, where the food is produced and the safety of the food processing and storage.

Check out the list below and guess whether the following statements are fact or myth to test your nutrition knowledge on various aspects of food and our environment.

Our bodies cannot digest dietary fiber.                FACT: Although fiber is important for our health, such as improving cholesterol levels and lowering the risk of chronic diseases, our bodies do not digest dietary fiber.All breads made with whole-wheat flour are whole grains.MYTH: For a bread product to be considered whole-grain, “whole-wheat” or another whole grain must be listed first or second after water.Cutting down on food waste helps our environment.FACT: When food is wasted, we are also wasting the energy, land, water and fertilizer used to produce and transport the food. Leftover food also contributes to additional methane and carbon dioxide (think: our carbon footprint) released into our environment.Foods that provide water can count toward our daily fluid intake.FACT: Foods with high water content, such as watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries and oranges, can count toward our daily fluid intake. However, be sure to still drink adequate amounts of water.All milk is tested for antibiotics prior to being sold to consumers.FACT: Samples from each milk tanker are tested prior to being sold to consumers. If milk is found to contain antibiotics, the entire tank must be discarded.Fresh fruits and vegetables are healthier than frozen or canned.                            MYTH: Frozen produce options are just as nutritious as fresh varieties, and some canned veggies, such as tomatoes, are more nutritious than fresh since the processing of canned tomatoes allows the antioxidant, lycopene, to be absorbed more readily.Sugars in fresh fruit and milk are the same as sugars in sweets.MYTH: The sugars found in fresh fruit (fructose) and milk (lactose) are natural sugars common in nutritious foods, whereas the sugars found in sweets are added sugars. Too much added sugar in our diet may increase our risk for chronic illness.Hormones are allowed to be used in the raising of chickens.MYTH: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration prohibits the use of any steroid hormones for growth purposes in poultry.

Sources:

“Beyond the Plate,” eatright.org, accessed Feb. 19, 2024.“Nutrition: Fact vs. Fiction,” eatright.org, accessed Feb. 20, 2024.“The Truth About: Milk and Antibiotics,” health.state.mn.us/diseases/antibioticresistance/animal/truthmilk.pdf, accessed Feb. 20, 2024.Chicken from Farm to Table, fsis.usda.gov, accessed Feb. 20, 2024.