"School Myths"

The Atlantic has a new Facebook page that tackles misinformation in basic education in the United States. The page is called "School Myths". The Atlantic writes, "“School Myths,” a new series by The Atlantic, debunks some of the more persistent misconceptions taught in classrooms across America, from the fallacy of the food pyramid to the pitfalls of the grading system." Its first episode posted weeks ago tackled lessons on nutrition taught in classrooms. Unfortunately, the information provided to students in these lessons are now known to be largely incorrect. The food pyramid in the nineties has now been shown to be misguided. The problem is not only with the wrong facts but also on the inherent bias behind the guidelines as the nation's Food and Drug Administration is in reality a federal government agency that promotes the United States food industry. These myths do linger. For instance, we continue to demonize coconut oil while ignoring the fact that not all fats are the same and that hydrogenated soybean oil poses even greater health risks. This is just one example I can think of. Anyway, you can watch the episode here: