This week Canadians have been given a taste of food politics after Ottawa announced that it is unveiling the new Canada Food Guide next year. It鈥檚 a symbolic date coming 75 years after the first official food guide was introduced for war-time Canada and a decade since the last updates were made. Although it is labelled as only a 鈥済uide鈥�, the Canada Food Guide carries a lot of clout. It鈥檚 the only authoritative source of healthy eating for Canadian schools, hospitals, and care homes.
Health Canada is gearing up to defend this latest version of the food guide hoping a big PR blitz can mask its faults. The new Food Guide has upset stomachs across the country from dieticians to medical researchers to agricultural producers, especially those in Western Canada.
One big change in the new food guide is that Ottawa is emphasizing plant-based proteins. Beef and dairy will only be getting an asterisk. The beef and dairy industries are crying foul over the Trudeau government鈥檚 endorsement of plant-protein saying it will hurt their industries. Some researchers have sided with the beef producers saying that scientific evidence does not support that 鈥渂eef is bad鈥�. Other scientists want the dairy category removed, saying the milk recommendations for wartime Canada of the 1940s are not applicable today. But supporters insist that milk, cheese and other dairy products provide nutrients essential for good health such as calcium. Nutritional claims aside, we see here the government shift away from supporting Canadian beef and dairy towards supporting pulses and vegetable production.
Ottawa would be remiss if it didn鈥檛 mention the environment. Yes, even the new food guide talks about the impact of our food systems on the environment. According to Ottawa, healthy eating can stop greenhouse gas emissions, improve water quality and animal welfare, and reduce food waste and soil degradation. At the same time, it ignores the fact that we reside in a northern climate and fresh vegetables are not available for at least half of the year. Fresh fruits and vegetables have to be trucked in from our southern neighbours or shipped from other parts of the world. And fresh produce can reach astronomical prices in northern Saskatchewan. All these ships, planes, trucks and cars and the infrastructure to support them leave a pretty big imprint on the environment for the Trudeau government to claim that eating fresh veggies out of season is good for the environment. While no one is arguing against healthy eating, it sounds more like environmental lobbying than concern for the nutritional needs of Canadians.
Ottawa has also taken the bold step to recommend how we eat our food. They are calling it 鈥渇ood skills and knowledge鈥�. The Trudeau government believes there is a disconnect between the public鈥檚 food interest and their practical knowledge and it wants us to cook meals and eat together with the family. It looks like a bag of microwaved popcorn in front of the TV after work no longer constitutes supper under the Trudeau government. This is a step too far. In the age of the internet, Food Network television and Dr. Oz, never has Canadian society had so much information about food and healthy eating.
Secondly, the government fails to realize what drives our eating patterns. Social scientists have shown that what we choose to eat, how we prepare it, who gets to eat it and where it is eaten is all shaped by our culture. Each culture has its own preferences for foods, restrictions and food beliefs that pull far stronger than any government recommendations from Ottawa. Food behaviour is also determined by economics. While we may have every intention of eating fresh vegetables in February in Saskatchewan, we may not be able to afford it.
As for gathering everyone together for a meal, this recommendation ignores the reality of Canadian family life. The latest Census data shows that the family eating supper together as recommended in the new food guide is a rapidly diminishing demographic and ignores other parts of the population. It鈥檚 also presumptuous for the guide to say that Canadians don鈥檛 already have family meals together. The government鈥檚 own decisions are driving up the cost of living that requires more family members to join the workforce, hold down more than one job or work longer hours. Eating together becomes very difficult in these households.
Canada鈥檚 Food Guide is only a guide, after all. Most people can safely ignore it and still be healthy with sensible, mindful eating. Ottawa is misleading the public by pretending to have our health in mind while catering to pet lobbies. The guide鈥檚 themes reflect that the government is more interested in meeting UN climate criteria than ensuring Canadians get appropriate and affordable nutrition that considers our diverse geography and multicultural makeup.
