A few days ago, the residents of Manitoba were able to get acquainted with the new food guide.
It is significantly different from the previous version because this time special attention is paid to plant protein and foods that grow in the place where people live.
Some people expressed their concern because the guide has practically no animal protein. That means that the amount of meat and dairy products has significantly decreased. However, Dr. Joyce Slator, University of Manitoba’s Associate Professor of Community Nutrition, explained that the new food guide does not call for the abandonment of these foods.
“People are really wanting to experiment with more of these plant-based proteins in their diet. Look at the success of the A&W meatless burger, they ran out. I think this gives people some guidance and permission to move in that direction, but without telling people you need to become a vegetarian.” – she noted.
At first it may seem that it is very difficult to replace meat with beans. Winnipeg dietitians give their comments on this problem, too.
“Fifteen to 25 grams of protein is what we need in a serving, three to four times a day, so if you had half a cup to a cup depending on the beans or the lentils would get you there and then you pair that up with your grain of choice like quinoa or whole wheat. Then that’s going to bump up to five grams of protein and there’s no meat there,” registered dietitian, Jorie Janzen said.
Many residents of Manitoba also expressed their concern that their bills could grow if they begin to eat according to a new food guide. It is true, consuming fresh foods may be costly for some regions. Therefore, sometimes fresh foods can be replaced with frozen or canned foods, they also contain a good amount of elements necessary for the body.
Many provincial residents can use the new food guide and not go beyond their budget. However, cooking time can now increase.
“We need to not just throw this out to people and say ‘here’s your food guide’, we need to be saying ‘how do we get these people — many of whom haven’t spent a lot of time making these basic foods — how do we get them tooled up to use these foods in a way that doesn’t take a whole bunch of time’.”- dietitians say.
In the near future, the provincial authorities will prepare more detailed information on all issues relating to the new food guide.