MyPlate.food is an independent nutrition platform that keeps the USDA MyPlate Plan format accessible after the official calculator went offline in January 2026. It offers free, browser-based calculators for personalized daily food-group targets and nutrient intake recommendations, built on the same IOM equations and USDA dietary patterns used by the original tool. The platform also preserves all 1,072 USDA MyPlate Kitchen recipes, with no account required for basic use.
Funding
Funding not disclosed
Founders
Product
Problem
Following the USDA's retirement of MyPlate.gov in January 2026, millions of people lost free access to the MyPlate Plan calculator, which personalized daily food-group targets based on age, sex, height, weight, and activity level. The shift to the new RealFood.gov framework also left the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines' food patterns and the MyPlate Kitchen recipe archive without a dedicated, consumer-friendly home.
Solution
MyPlate.food rebuilds the MyPlate Plan calculator and related nutrition tools on the same publicly available science the original site used, including IOM Estimated Energy Requirement equations and USDA Food Pattern tables. The platform provides free, ad-free, and account-free calculators that run entirely in the user's browser, covering three USDA dietary patterns (Healthy U.S.-Style, Mediterranean-Style, and Healthy Vegetarian), a DRI Calculator for vitamins and minerals, and full pregnancy/lactation support. It also preserves all 1,072 MyPlate Kitchen recipes and pairs them with 7-day meal plans, making the transition seamless for former MyPlate users. The service offers optional user accounts for saving and tracking plans, plus multi-language printable outputs.
Target Audience
Primary users are former MyPlate.gov visitors seeking to continue using the USDA food guidance system, as well as health-conscious adults, parents, educators, and health platforms looking for a free, evidence-based nutrition calculator aligned with the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines.
Features
- Browser-based EER calculator using IOM 2005 equations as default with option to switch to NASEM 2023 equations, including pregnancy and lactation adjustments
- Personalized daily food-group targets (cups and ounce-equivalents) across the three USDA dietary patterns, rounded to standard USDA calorie levels from 1,000 to 3,200
- DRI Calculator providing RDA/AI values and Tolerable Upper Intake Levels for nutrients based on National Academies guidelines
- Full archive of 1,072 USDA MyPlate Kitchen recipes with free 7-day meal plans at multiple calorie levels
- Support for ages 2 to 120, imperial/metric unit switching, and printable or emailable plans in five languages without an account
- Fully transparent methodology page documenting all formulas and data sources; no proprietary algorithms or hidden calculations