RFA Ethanol Podcast

My Pyramid Spoofed In A Big Way

Chuck Zimmerman

There has certainly been plenty of jokes about USDA’s new food guide pyramid but none as elaborate as the spoof site. Let’s you know how important it is to reserve extra website domain extensions!

This information comes from the Institute of Food Technologists website:

Spoof of USDA MyPyramid site gets noticed

4/30/2005-When the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture left two URL extensions of their Web site, describing the new Food Pyramid (mypyramid.gov) open, two Web developers Stephen Eisenmenger and Molly Nutting set up a spoof of the site at www.mypyramid.org and www.mypyramid.us. According to news reports, the USDA’s site has gotten more than 268 million hits, and the parody has gotten more than 1 million. Eisenmenger and Nutting, self-described social activists and vegetarians, charge that the USDA pyramid represents a conflict between an agency that is responsible for promoting the interests of the U.S. agriculture industry and an attempt to promote healthy eating. The spoof calls for “…moderate or vigorous activity (such as playing video games, standing up to change the channel or walking to your car).” According to news reports, the USDA won’t comment other than to acknowledge the existence of site. The sites look very similar because Eisenmenger and Nutting copied the USDA site and added their own text and messages. The USDA’s graphics and other materials are part of the public domain.

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