A history of the Canadian food guide 

Canada’s first food guide was introduced to the public in July 1942 with a focus on wartime food rationing and preventing nutritional deficiencies. Originally called the “Official Food Rules,” it was intended to serve as a nutrition program in the context of poverty and strict rationing. Consequently, Canadian food experts served as “gatekeepers” who articulated family values and heightened domesticity in the prosperous postwar years. From being used as a basic nutrition program during the war, the food guide came to promote Candian middle-class ideals and the dominant homemaker ideology by educating women on their role to feed and nurture healthy families. In the context of the Cold War, this ideology of “domestic containment” was perpetuated through the food guide to promote capitalist and middle-class ideals of the era. Since its introduction, the evolution of the food guide reveals how nutrition can be politicized to push a political agenda. Rather than being a neutral tool to educate Canadians on nutrition, the food guide is historically contingent and hinges on external pressure from lobby groups and powerful stakeholders. 

The politicization of food today

The new Canadian food guide was updated in January 2019, marking more than a decade since the previous update in 2007. It has introduced sweeping changes, such as an emphasis on plant-based sources of protein. In addition, a glass of water is shown in the main diagram as the “drink of choice” rather than a serving of milk. Before it was released to the public, the food guide underwent a thorough process of evidence review from scientific research while considering the specific Canadian context and building on the existing Dietary Guidance. Efforts to be inclusive have also extended to working with Indigenous peoples to support healthy dietary practices for First Nations, Inuit and Metis. However, news of the updated guide was not without criticism, with many accusing Health Canada of pushing an environmentalist agenda. Some of the most vocal critics are Canadian dairy farmers who see the dietary overhaul as a threat to their livelihoods. Pierre Lampron, president of the Dairy Farmers of Canada, stated that the shift in focus to a more plant-based diet in the new food guide would further harm a sector that is continuously impacted by recent trade agreement concessions. 

Andrew Scheer, the leader of the Conservative Party, stated that he would review the updated food guide if his party came to power, characterizing the guide as a “flawed and biased process.” Making this comment at the Dairy Farmer of Canada’s annual general meeting in an effort to pander to the traditionally conservative base and the food lobbying industry, his statement during his failed campaign is not only revealing of the deep regional divides that the recent federal elections have exposed, but also the pressure applied by the dairy lobby, which is one of the strongest and most protected industry groups in Canada. For example, in 1992, Health Canada increased the recommended servings of meat and dairy foods in response to industry pressure. According to a Health Canada research document, increased industry lobbying has hurt the food guide’s credibility. Scheer’s public statement shows the continued politicization of the food guide, which should be an impartial tool based in science, rather than one used to the advantage of certain industries. The Minister of Health, Ginette Petitpas-Taylor, responded to Scheer’s comment by stating that “health policy should be based on evidence (and) not industry.” The increased need to adopt a more environmentally conscious approach in our dietary practices bring our attention to the need for a shift in our attitudes and the awareness of the political forces behind our food choices. On its official website, Canada’s Food Guide is described as “both a policy and educational tool”. However, it appears that the guide has been highly politicized, with politicians such as Andrew Scheer using it to appease the food lobby industry. To meet the changing context, an environmental approach should be integrated into the guide while respecting the need for a neutral and scientific document to educate Canadians on their dietary choices.