Canadian Food guide

Canada’s Food guide is in news for all right reasons! Recently Canada’s Food Guide is getting a much needed make over and is focusing mainly on plant based foods!! It is shifting away from meat and dairy industry. Dairy products are no longer will be a separate group.

Considering many from present generation is shifting (positively) to vegan and vegetarian diet this news is encouraging!

“The recommendation is regular intake of vegetables, fruit, whole grains and protein-rich foods, especially plant-based sources of protein” (Huffigtonpost)

Canadian Government is listening to the public opinion on the review and is less Industry driven!! The new food guide so far is focusing mainly on diet and health of family and schools.  Recently Health Canada released a detailed Food guide draft, based on an input from more than 20,000 Canadians, and is now in a second round of public consultation.

These revised guidelines are based on both quality and source of the information of health of Canadians and actual information about Canadians’ eating habits. In revised guidelines, they have not considered Industry-commissioned reports.

The revision / draft of new Food guide so far has all good points in it;

• More emphasis on plant based foods than processed foods
• Foods that provide rich protein are in one group – no separate meat and dairy group.
• A variety of nutritious foods and beverages are base for healthy diet
• Those foods that are high in sodium, sugar and saturated fat are undermined
• It encourages people to consume proteins from plant food – soybean, legumes etc.
• Eating low fat yogurt and drinking low fat milk for adults and, full fat milk for children is one of the recommendation. However, there is no separate dairy group
• It encourages people to drink more water for hydration rather than sugary juices
• Encouraging public to consider preparing food from scratch and eaten in company as much as possible – eating together as a family – putting diet in a social context.
• School lunch: More whole food and less processed food for children. There will be a up to date nutrition information for kids for understanding better food for their age. No more focus on processed food industry products
• Supporting benefits for the environment by shifting to healthy eating: it means eating food higher in plant-based foods and less meat means, more positive impact on environment
• It helps our planet and future generation: Reducing food waste to protect the planet by reducing processed food, greenhouse gas emission, food distribution, encouraging people to grow their food, water quality improvement and helping our future generation

Once it is complete, it will be interesting to see how the Canadian Food Guide will focus on age group diet, how will they inspire Canadians to cook home food,

The Food Guide is not complete yet. Canadian Govt is continuing getting inputs he public for revising Canada’s Food Guide to strengthen its recommendations for healthy eating. If you are interested in participating, click here: http://www.foodguideconsultation.ca/

References:

• https://www.todaysparent.com/
• www.trueactivist.com
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com