There are plenty of healthy diets recommended by leading nutritionists and doctors that aren't the food pyramid. And bringing this up as a straw-man doesn't seem to further the discussion.
There are lots of very healthy diets with much more long term data behind them like the Mediterranean diet.
The food pyramid is literally taught to every child in the united states, and, uh, we're kind of a fat nation. I think it's totally fair to call it out, it's not a straw-man, the government is literally forcing bad advice on people that's making them fat.
The people that followed its advice are still around, and you'll have to forgive me if I'm not going to trust newer USDA guidelines after what a spectacular (and politically motivated) fuck up that was.
There are lots of very healthy diets with much more long term data behind them like the Mediterranean diet.