The USDA credits W.O. Atwater, a nutrition investigator and head of the Office of Experiment Stations in the USDA, with laying the foundation for the first food guide. In 1894 he published information about what ingredients were in food. This information included fat, protein, carbohydrates, minerals, and fuel value (calories) of common foods. In 1902 he wrote that “the evils of overeating may not be felt at once, but sooner or later they are sure to appear- perhaps in an excessive amount of fatty tissue, perhaps in general debility, perhaps in actual disease”. Of course, we know today that he was right.
Food guides arranged by food groups were not released until 1916. The USDA credits Caroline L. Hunt with making the first food guide. She categorized food as one of the following: milk and meat, cereals, vegetables and fruits, fats and fat foods, and sugar and sugary foods.
In the early 1900’s food guides were written for housekeepers and included information on how much food to buy each week for a five person family. In the 1930’s during the Great Depression, a food guide was developed to help families save money on groceries. This guide was arranged by four different cost levels of foods. One of the resulting food guides, the Thrifty Food Plan, later became the basis of the food stamp program's allocations.
During the 1941 National Nutrition Conference for Defense, the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences developed the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA). To this day, food labels are designed with information about current RDA standards and are listed as a percentage of these recommendations.
It was at this conference that the need for public education on nutrition was addressed and gave way to the development of educational materials by public and private companies. Because this was the era of World War II, these materials were designed with wartime food restrictions in mind.
After WWII, the food guide was revised due to the fact that it was too complex and vague about how much of each food people should eat. In 1956, a new food guide was developed that had four food groups instead of seven. These “basic four” were:
- Meat products, fish, eggs, poultry, beans, and nuts
- Milk and milk products
- Fruits and vegetables
- Grains
This guide was not intended to dictate exactly what should be eaten, but rather it served as a recommended foundation for a healthy diet.