New Year’s resolution: Check out “What’s on Your Plate?”

Did you know that if you want to snack on some nuts, the recommended serving size is probably a lot smaller than you think—about 12 almonds, or 7 walnut halves? Or that a healthy portion size for a serving of meat or poultry is 3 ounces, roughly the size of a deck of cards? We didn’t know either, and after designing What’s on Your Plate? Smart Food Choices for Healthy Aging, all of us at L&A feel enlightened regarding the nutritional decisions we make on a daily basis. The 80-page book, written by the National Institute on Aging (in conjunction with NIH and DHHS), provides helpful tips for the 50+ crowd—serving sizes, food groups, nutrients, shopping information, sample menus, and many other tips, all specifically addressing the needs of an aging audience. It’ll come in especially handy during this post-holiday season, when we’re all regretting a month of bad food choices and growing waistlines. 

 
In designing the publication, we decided that a lot of the information was much more powerful if readers could actually see what’s mentioned in the text. What does a serving of mayonnaise look like? What about a half ounce of pumpkin seeds?  Because we knew that stock photography would not give us the necessary variety, specificity, and consistency, we took all of the images in-house. That involved making multiple trips to Whole Foods, turning the studio kitchen into a food styling and preparation lab, and shooting the nearly 80 unique images that make the book a useful, informational, and appealing guide to healthy eating for the senior set.