Canada’s new food guide dovetails nicely with the Nova Scotia Health Authority’s plans to revamp its menus in the coming year, the organization says.
The Canada Food Guide’s first major update in 12 years encourages people to eat wholesome, home-cooked meals that include less meat, dairy, sugary drinks and processed foods and more plant-based foods, whole grains, and healthy fats and proteins.
Brenda MacDonald, senior director of nutrition and food services with the NSHA, said that the organization has been working on a new menu for the last few months that includes many of the recommendations in the new food guide.
Under the guidance of a new chef and culinary manager and in consultation with patients, dietitians, staff, as well as the NSHA’s food service team, MacDonald said the health authority is developing a new menu that focuses on more plant-based proteins, adding more fruits and vegetables, and eliminating processed foods.
“We’re testing a chickpea curry, for example, with whole grain rice, (we’re testing) lentil pasta, and quinoa stuffed peppers,” MacDonald said.
“We already actually make most of our food from scratch, that has always been important to Nova Scotia hospitals and that’s what the guide is recommending, that we make more homemade foods.”
MacDonald said the NSHA started this project before the introduction of the new food guide earlier this week, but said both used the most up-to-date dietary and medical advice, so it’s no surprise they both have similar elements.
She added that the NSHA was involved in consultations on the food guide held by the federal government.
“We’re always looking for the leading trends and putting those into practice,” MacDonald said. “The new food guide confirms that we’re ... on the right path.”
The NSHA plans to start testing the new menu, first with its own staff and later with the general public, beginning next week.
“We want a really awesome, delicious, healthy menu and so want to do it right,” MacDonald said. “We want to make sure that we are consulting folks along the way.”
MacDonald said they hope to have the new menu in place in all institutions by this summer.
Some recommendations new to Canada’s Food Guide have already been implemented in Nova Scotia’s hospitals, MacDonald said, such as removing deep fat fryers, only offering salt with meals by request, and removing sugary sodas from cafeterias.
Also in line with a new guide is another initiative called room service — it is being tested in some hospitals in the province. Room service changes the old convention of set meals of set sizes at set times of the day and allows patients to order the amount of food they want when they want it, which MacDonald said contributes to more mindful eating and reduces overeating and food waste.
Canada’s Food Guide recommends taking your time to eat, paying attention to hunger cues, and to stop eating when full.
Sara Kirk, a professor of health promotion at Dalhousie
University, stressed during an interview the importance of placing healthy foods at the centre of public institutions in order to set an example for Canadians.
“Really what we want to see (is that) this food guide starts to permeate into those settings,” she said. “Once we start having that harmonized message, we should start to see that trickling down into individual behaviour as well.”
