Canada Food Guide goes progressive

by Kaitlin | February 5, 2007 at 05:10 pm

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I don't know about all of you, but I remember the Canada Food Guide as a colourful if somewhat meaningless pyramid taped or pinned to available wall space in my elementary school. Later, its demands seemed a little unreasonable--how many of us actually consume 5-10 fruit and/or veggie servings each day?

Not many, it seems, and efforts to improve the Food Guide have been ongoing, especially in the face of growing obesity in this country. That being said, the newest incarnation of the guide seems to be its best yet, including more diverse choices, like bok choy (in an effort to recognize Canada's multi-ethnic eaters) and allows users to customize their diets and food choices, as states this report from the CBC:

On Health Canada's website, visitors can create a customized food guide, selecting from foods they like or would choose to include in their diets. The guide is available for download in English and French. Copies in other languages and a separate Food Guide for First Nations, Inuit and Métis will be available later this spring.

Seems pretty progressive, but also maybe a bit of a diversionary tactic--in place of actual obesity prevention strategies or ways to encourage healthy eating, the little colourful pyramid just got a little colourful makeover. Whether Canadians will implement it in its new form--and get healthier--is something else entirely.