According to Harvard, it is a poor dietary guideline, and it puts way too much importance on dairy. Harvard's guideline is at https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-eating-plate/ The USDA suggestions won't make someone obese, but it would certainly push them to be at least a few pounds heavier than they should be, and it won't really help them lead a healthier life. It may not shove food in their mouth, but it misinforms them, which encourages the person to eat the wrong foods under the sincere belief that it is healthy. It's a travesty that the 'ideal' guideline pushed by the agency was very far from the ideal. We have agencies to make these guidelines so individuals do not need to research it themselves. We have experts who are supposed to do this. They are supposed to save everyone else the time and mistakes they would incur if they had to do it themselves. Specialization of labor - including intellectual labor like this - is the cornerstone of human civilization. If we all had to do everything for ourselves, society would devolve.