(QUINCY MA) – Stop & Shop announces plans to help consumers put the new U.S. Department of Agriculture MyPyramid, a new symbol and interactive food guidance system, into practice. The new MyPyramid is designed to help people make smart food choices, find a balance between food and physical activity and get the most nutrition for the calories. Stop & Shop wants to make finding and preparing those foods easier for consumers.

The new MyPyramid calls for eating more whole grains, colorful fruits and vegetables, nonfat and lowfat dairy products, and lean meats and dried beans, while recommending 30 minutes of physical activity most days of the week. “This wonderful interactive tool will help consumers understand the best choices within each food group. It is our goal to make it easy to find these choices at the supermarket,” said Paulette Thompson, M.S., R.D., Health and Wellness Manager for Stop & Shop. Each month Stop & Shop will focus on a key message of MyPyramid, communicating through the ad circular, in-store radio, its website and in-store signage.

The Stop & Shop website (www.stopandshop.com) will have a link to the USDA’s new MyPyramid site where consumers can track their eating and physical activity and find tips to make improvements toward the goal of a healthier lifestyle. Additionally, consumers can access “Healthy Ideas” on the Stop & Shop homepage for more information on food, nutrition and recipes.

Through its produce ads, Stop & Shop will reinforce the message of eating a variety of colorful produce. And to make it fun for kids, Stop & Shop is partnering with the Produce for Better Health Foundation and Sesame Street to promote the consumption of more fruits and vegetables by the preschool set. The Sesame Street healthy eating monsters make it fun for kids and helps parents help their children eat well and set healthy eating patterns for life.

Stop & Shop will also promote its school tours and new tour activity booklet for grades K-3 beginning in August. The tours and activity booklet will highlight MyPyramid. Teachers, Scout leaders and other groups for children ages 5-8 will want to take advantage of this opportunity to show children how to make healthful food selections.

“Stop & Shop is pleased to support USDA in promoting these important messages. MyPyramid is an opportunity to spread the word of healthier eating for everyone,” said Ms. Thompson, “and we want to help make this happen with our customers and their families.”

The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, based in Quincy, Massachusetts, employs
more than 58,000 associates and operates 360 stores throughout Massachusetts,
Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, New York and New Jersey.