The Chopping Block Chronicles: Canada’s Food Guide gets overhaul

Columns January 23, 2019

Finally—Canada’s Food Guide, published by Health Canada, is getting a much-needed overhaul to reflect modern-day nutritional standards.

The guide was first introduced in 1942, during World War II. It was originally used to promote Canadian agriculture and stimulate the rural economy; now, after 77 years of slight modifications, Canada has decided to catch up with the rest of the world regarding nutrition-based information as opposed to simply pushing food groups. (Shockingly enough, those eight servings of vegetables recommended by the guide don’t really mean much to your body if they are all French fries.)

The Chopping Block Chronicles is a column about food; it appears in every issue of Nexus.

This type of thing has been an extreme frustration in my line of work as a chef. Going through culinary school and listening to instructors teach about the food guide (not by choice, in my opinion) was cringeworthy for all parties involved. Who are we to teach this outdated and heinous information  to the next generation of individuals who will be designing menus, coming up with the next hot new restaurants, or further passing along this knowledge to future chefs? Sure, it was practical in the ’40s, but we live in an age of information and choice. We are not solely reliant on milk and bread to get by. 

Health and wellness are two of the trendiest things in North America right now, so to not have a food guide that reflects nutrition as our number-one priority is an absolute slap in the face to the average Canadian citizen.

Teaching people how to take care of their bodies with what they put in it should be at the top of any agenda. 

I, for one, am extremely happy and grateful that the food guide is finally getting this overhaul, albeit far later than it rightfully should have. My fingers will remain crossed until it is released, and I will go back to working on my health class project with the old guide as the standard, as per curriculum. But the overhaul is overdue, and better late than never.