Volume 110 | December 2018
USDA Backpedals on Whole Grain Success
On December 6, the USDA announced that the final rule on school meal flexibilities will weaken school nutrition standards, particularly with regards to whole grains. The announcement that only half of the weekly grains served in the school lunch and breakfast programs will be required to be “whole grain rich” is a euphemism for making a meager 25% of the grains whole, and is a disconcerting departure from the interim final rule.
Expert Tips for Baking with Whole Grains
It’s easy to convert your favorite recipes to whole grain, once you learn a few ground rules. We talked with King Arthur’s Baking guru to find out which recipes can be substituted part-for-part, which ones might need extra liquid, and which whole grain flours have the sweetest flavor. 
How to Make a Healthier Dessert
Although most desserts are fairly nutritionally empty, by tweaking the ingredients we can add necessary fiber, vitamins, and minerals into a food that usually lacks essential nutrients. Rather than trying to minimize the damage by choosing dessert ingredients that might not be as bad as others, we see dessert as an opportunity to deliver the good stuff. 
Quality > Quantity, When Choosing Carbs & Fats
In this review, nutrition scientists of widely varying perspectives detailed evidence supporting both low-fat and low-carb diets, as well as points of consensus they could agree on. The experts agreed that carbohydrate quality (whole grains and low Glycemic Index foods over refined grains and sugars) and fat quality (unsaturated fats over trans fats and saturated fats) are much more important than the amount of carbohydrates or fat in the diet.
Whole Grain Desserts
This classic cookie recipe came from a love of the Original Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie, which most people are familiar with and love. Here, it’s been modified to make it whole grain and heart-healthy, but still delicious!

Recipe courtesy of Sargent Choice Nutrition Center at Boston University
Pumpkin Pie with Whole Grain Crust
This easy pumpkin pie recipe has a great whole wheat crust you can use with any other pie, and a light and lovely filling that would be a shame to enjoy only once or twice a year.

On Oldways Whole Grains Council recipe, courtesy of Cynthia Harriman
The combination of lemon and tahini is a match made in the Mediterranean. For a healthier twist on this popular treat, we use tofu to lend the creaminess.

An Oldways recipe, courtesy of Kelly Toups

Kelly Toups, MLA, RD, LDN 
Director of Nutrition

Caroline Sluyter
Whole Grains Council Program Director

Abby Clement
Whole Grain Stamp Program Manager