Canada's New Industry-Free Food Guide

Click to link to the new Canada Food Guide.

The new food guide is out! The new food guide is out!

Most Canadians will be as excited about the release of the new national food guide as they are about a new phone book coming out (does that still happen?). 

But the updated food guide is here, and I am eating it up for a variety of reasons.

What our food guide should be is an evidence-based, easy to understand guide to lead Canadians toward patterns of eating that will minimize their risk of developing chronic diseases (including obesity and diabetes), as well as minimize their impact on the environment. 

The new guide does that. 

Instead of highlighting four food groups (fruits/vegetables, meat and alternatives, milk and alternatives, and grains), it looks at fruits/vegetables, grains, and protein.

Contrary to past versions of the guide, this time there was no industry involvement, thus avoiding the obvious conflict of interest that tainted past food guides, like the last version that came out in 2007.

Here are a few of the industry players that were involved last time:

• Brewers of Canada
• The Canadian Meat Council
• The Canadian Sugar Institute
• The Canola Council of Canada
• The Confectionery Manufacturers Association of Canada
• Dairy Farmers of Canada
• Edible Oil Foods Association of Canada
• Food and Consumer Products Manufacturers of Canada
• Kellogg Canada Inc.
• Refreshments Canada
• Weston Bakeries Limited
• The Beef Information Centre

This time? None.

The new Canadian Food Guide is similar to other evidence-based dietary advice.

Some of my take-aways from looking at the new guide:


- beverage of choice is water 

- recommends drinking less fruit juices - 1/2 cup a day

- does not exclude any food groups, but advises Canadians consume less red meat, dairy, starchy foods, and processed foods

- suggests people improve their diets by cooking more, and eating out less

- also highlights the importance of eating together (although I believe they should have pointed out the benefits of cooking together as well)

- based on an emerging scientific consensus about plant-based diets and limiting things like sugar, sodium and unhealthy fats 

- it reflects trends that have already begun, such as eating more plant based protein, and drinking alternative milks 



The simplified, evidence-based new guide recommends a meal look something like this:

- 1/2 of meal is vegetables/fruits. 

- 1/4 of meal is protein foods, emphasizing plant-based foods like beans and lentils, but also including small amounts of meat, dairy, and eggs.

- 1/4 of meal is whole grain foods. 


As can be expected, there has been a backlash to the new guide, with one reviewer calling it an "elitist" document. It's a sign of the times when a food once shunned because of its association with poverty and the poor, the lowly (but nutritious) bean, is all of a sudden part of an elitist conspiracy.

Finally, it is good to see that our new food guidance from our national government is in alignment with the recently released "Planetary Health Diet". That report claims that the diet they have come up with would save millions of lives and mitigate climate change at the same time.

And it's tasty. You really can't lose. 

Unless you are part of the food industry that makes sick, fat profits while making us sick and fat.

"Every year in Canada, 21,000 - 47,000 Canadians die from diet and weight related illnesses, costing taxpayers between $6.6 and $11 billion dollars."  

The Center for Science in the Public Interest 

Garden Mojo: Beans, Corn, and Squash

Only if every silk is pollinated will the cob have a full compliment of kernels.

This year we are growing corn for the first time in a long while. I am glad we did because I have discovered some new garden mojo. 

While working in the garden, and as the corn grew taller, I tuned into the magical music of wind rustled corn leaves. It is a sound both soothing, and invigorating, like falling rain, or ocean waves pounding on a sandy beach.

I have never stood in the middle of a corn field on a windy day, but I imagine that it must sound like a million pairs of hands clapping. Corn leaves in a symphony of rustling, applauding the forces of nature that allow it to create life in a uniquely beautiful form.

Pole beans starting up the corn stalks.

I discovered recently that each golden silky hair that emerges out of the cob's tip is connected to an individual kernel inside. Any silk that does not get fertilized by pollen falling from the male parts above, will result in a underdeveloped or missing kernel. 

I guess that makes sense from a scientific perspective, but it seems like more garden mojo to me.

This year we teamed our rustling corn patch with winter squash and pole beans. These are the plants of Three Sisters fame, developed by various North American native groups over thousands of years.

Native Americans know garden mojo, and have long considered the Three Sisters to be sacred. For a good reason - corn, beans and squash make for magical gardening, and nutrition.

"The three crops benefit from each other. The maize provides a structure for the beans to climb, eliminating the need for poles. The beans provide the nitrogen to the soil that the other plants use, and the squash spreads along the ground, blocking the sunlight, helping prevent the establishment of weeds. 

The squash leaves also act as a "living mulch", creating a microclimate to retain moisture in the soil, and the prickly hairs of the vine deter pests. 

Corn, beans, and squash contain complex carbohydrates, essential fatty acids and all eight essential amino acids, allowing most Native American tribes to thrive on a plant-based diet."

- from Wikipedia 

"Rustle, rustle, rustle." 

That is the sound of garden mojo at work.