By Caree Jackson Cotwright, PhD, RDN, Director of Nutrition Security and Health Equity, USDA Food and Nutrition Service

USDA is proud to celebrate the second anniversary of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s vision to advance food and nutrition security.

This first-of-its-kind, whole-of-department approach uses a four-pillar approach, working across USDA’s eight mission areas. These pillars include:

• Providing nutrition support from pregnancy to birth and beyond;
• Connecting everyone in this country with healthy, safe, affordable foods
• Developing, translating, and enacting nutrition science through partnership; and
• Prioritizing equity every step of the way.

Leveraging the momentum of the historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, we are also doing our part to implement the National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. This whole-of-society strategy was designed to end hunger, improve nutrition and physical activity, and reduce diet-related diseases and disparities.

And the Biden-Harris Administration remains focused on the Strategy. At a recent White House event, partners pledged nearly $1.7 billion in new commitments cultivated through the White House Challenge to End Hunger and Build Healthy Communities.

Our efforts to advance food and nutrition security also integrates the Secretary’s goal to make MyPlate a household name. As I explain in this video, MyPlate has been our national symbol for healthy eating for more than a decade. MyPlate.gov provides the guidance, tools, and resources that translate the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines into actionable steps anyone can use.

We are making our MyPlate materials more culturally, contextually, and linguistically responsive. And we work with more than 141 National Strategic Partners across a variety of sectors to use common messages to communicate to consumers that it’s never too early or too late to start eating healthy. We even launched a MyPlate Instagram, which is loaded with healthy eating tips and recipes.

Agriculture Secretary Vilsack Celebrates Progress on Tackling Food and Nutrition Insecurity

As we celebrate the power of nutritious food, we are proud of all we’ve accomplished over the last two years, but we know we can do more and do better, together. Please explore our innovative tools and stay connected. We look forward to working together to help everyone in this country access nutrition education through MyPlate.