Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a new icon to replace the long-familiar food pyramid to help people make healthier food choices.

While the USDA’s nutrition messages largely stay the same, the new food guidance icon, MyPlate, is easier to read. The new MyPlate icon emphasizes the fruit, vegetable, grains, protein and dairy food groups.

The key points emphasized are:  

Balance Calories

• Enjoy your food, but eat less.

• Avoid oversized portions.

Foods to Increase

• Make half your plate fruits and vegetables.

• Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk.

• Make at least half your grains whole grains

Foods to Reduce

• Compare sodium (salt) in foods like soup, bread, and frozen meals, and choose foods with lower numbers.

• Drink water instead of sugary drinks.

The USDA has also unveiled a new website, www.choosemyplate.gov. The site includes daily tips, interactive tools to help assess your food intake and physical activity, weight loss information and much more like the My Food-a-Pedia tool which allows the user to look up specific foods.

If you’re using MyPlate to help you make food choices, the USDA wants to know. Take a picture of your plate and post it to the USDA’s Flickr page or share it on Twitter with the hash-tag #MyPlate.