WELLINGTON COUNTY – Beef and dairy producers expect to maintain a prominent place in Canada’s food marketplace, in spite of a new food guide that gives more importance to plant-based protein.
Reaction to the new Canada’s Food Guide ranges from positive to critical, with farmers warning that Canadians’ health could suffer if they cut back on meat and dairy products.
The guide urges people to make choices based on food labels rather than on food marketing, to limit highly-processed foods, to cook more often, to eat meals with other people and to focus on the enjoyment of food.
It recommends people eat a variety of healthy foods each day – including vegetables, fruits, whole grain foods and protein foods – and choose foods and oils with healthy fats. Canadians are urged to make water their drink of choice and to avoid sugary drinks.
Dairy and meat remain important components of the protein category, but are less prominent than in previous guides.
“Choose protein foods that come from plants more often,” the guide says. “Include foods such as beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, lean meats and poultry, fish, shellfish, eggs, lower fat milk and lower fat dairy products.”
Beef Farmers of Ontario (BFO), based in Guelph, is pleased lean beef is prominently displayed in the protein quadrant of the overall food plate.
“It is important to share that not all proteins are created equal,” says a BFO statement.
“A small amount of lean beef can provide high-quality, readily available protein and many other nutrients with relatively low calories. To get an equal amount of protein from plant sources could mean consuming higher volumes and more calories.”
BFO president Joe Hill of Fergus said beef production is important to the local economy, with Wellington County having many beef farms.
Also, Guelph is home to Cargill Proteins, one of Canada’s largest beef processing plants, employing 950 people and processing 1,500 head of cattle per day, according to the company website.
Hill said farmers are concerned about “misinformation” and how consumers might interpret the guide, but added it is “not a threat” to beef production levels.
“Globally, there is a strong demand for the high-quality beef that we produce,” he said.
The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) says that by promoting plant proteins in the same category with animal-based proteins, Health Canada has “missed an opportunity” to inform Canadians about the value of eating lean beef.
“It would be unfortunate if Canadians interpret this bias toward plant-based proteins as a signal to remove red meat from their diets,” says a CCA press release.
“Dietary advice to reduce red meat consumption could put some Canadians at risk of iron, zinc (and) vitamin B12 deficiencies and inadequate protein intake.”
Dairy farmers, also prominent in the Wellington agricultural economy, are among those with concerns about the guide.
Dairy products no longer have their own category or set number of servings per day (previously four), but are part of the wider range of protein sources.
Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) says the new guide does not reflect the most recent and mounting
scientific evidence showing that milk products with various fat content can be a part of a healthy diet.
Bonnie den Haan, who represents the Wellington Dairy Producer Committee on the board of the Dairy Farmers of Ontario, said the industry is important to both the local economy and the health of Canadians.
“We are disappointed that the guide reduces the amount of milk and dairy products that a person should be consuming,” she said. “There is no other food that is so complete in its nutrition. New science has proved that butter fat is actually good for you – it’s a brain food.”
Den Haan does not expect a drop in consumption, but said it is an “unfair” mark against the industry, based on an “extreme agenda” that could erode public confidence in dairy products.
She said there could be more of an impact at day care or senior care facilities that are government-regulated.
She said the guide has many good aspects, including avoidance of processed foods and preparing meals at home.
“If people eat more at home, they’ll use more dairy, since it is called for in so many recipes,” said den Haan.
The food guide changes come while the dairy sector is still reeling from the latest rounds of concessions made by the federal government to secure recent trade agreements, according to DFC president Pierre Lampron.
“Not only will this harm the dairy sector and the hundreds of thousands who depend upon it for their livelihoods, it also risks harming Canadian consumers by creating confusion about the nutritional value of dairy,” stated Lampron.
DFC director of nutrition and research Isabelle Neiderer said, “There is no scientific justification to minimize the role of milk products in a healthy diet as they are a key source of six of the eight nutrients that most Canadians already fall short of (calcium, magnesium, zinc, vitamin A, vitamin D, and potassium).
“The current scientific evidence clearly demonstrates that the daily consumption of two to four servings of milk products has a beneficial role to play in promoting bone health and preventing several chronic diseases.”
Sylvain Charlebois, a professor in food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University, said in a published article that dairy is the most influential lobby group in Canadian agriculture, spending more than $80 million every year to encourage Canadians to drink milk and eat more dairy products.
“A new food guide without a dairy category or a prescribed number of servings is the last thing the Canadian dairy sector wants. On the other hand, it is exactly what Canadians need, and more than ever,” stated Charlebois.
“Dairy farmers, while producing a high-quality product for Canadians, will need to accept that their commodity is now part of a much larger portfolio of good, natural food ingredients.”
The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) is pleased with the overall direction of the guide, saying it addresses CMA recommendations and calling it an important resource for Canadians and health providers.
“The CMA is particularly supportive of the evidence-based review and extensive consultation process used to draft the new guide, to ensure it was founded on unbiased research,” said CMA president Dr. Gigi Osler.
“The CMA encourages the federal government to enhance the effectiveness of the new Food Guide by moving ahead with front-of-package labelling and prohibiting food and beverage marketing directed at children, two initiatives currently before Parliament.”
Companies represented by the Plant-Based Foods of Canada group are happy with the new guide. They want to ensure plant-based foods are widely available, convenient and affordable, and say there are health benefits available from vegetarian, vegan and flexitarian (low meat) lifestyles.
They note sales of meat and dairy alternatives were up by eight per cent last year, and point out the federal government has recently invested about $150 million in Canada’s plant protein industry.
Anna Pippus, a lawyer with Animal Justice, said, “The new food guide offers a glimmer of hope that truth and integrity can prevail. For too many years, Canada’s food guide has compromised our health, environment and animals by emphasizing meat, dairy, and eggs as being foundational.
“The new food guide turns that outdated thinking on its head, giving nutrient-dense and fibre-rich plant foods the prominence they deserve.”
She said recommendations in the previous guide to eat plant protein and drink water “were obscured by an undue emphasis on meat and dairy following decades of intense industry lobbying.”
