Finding healthy food can be difficult, says minister
Canada’s health minister says many Canadians still struggle to access healthy food, a problem that is contributing to a health crisis.
“The reality is in Canada that despite our pride in Canadian beef, seafood, dairy, grains and fruits and vegetables, healthy foods can be hard to get in some places,” said Ginette Petitpas Taylor in a keynote address to the 2017 Canadian Cardiovascular Conference Saturday in Vancouver.
The conference runs until Tuesday at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
Petitpas Taylor said while northern communities still face significant challenges finding affordable produce, there are hurdles in urban areas as well.
“In many areas in this country it is easier to walk to the corner store for a bag of chips than it is to access a grocery store to buy fresh fruit and vegetables. It is also cheaper to buy that bag of chips or a value meal at any fast food chain than it is to pay for a healthy meal.”
She pledged to make access to healthy food a priority by continuing to expand the government’s healthy eating strategy.
The ministry launched the strategy one year ago to address the health crisis, which includes the growing rate of obesity in children, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
The strategy involves four pillars: To develop better nutrition information with new labels and warnings; Protect the vulnerable population.
Some examples are working to restrict marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to kids; improving the availability of and access to food; improving the quality of food, such as banning trans fats.
Petitpas Taylor said despite numerous health campaigns, Canadians are still eating too much processed food laden with salt, fat and sugar.
Under the strategy, the government is hoping to put new warning symbols on the front of processed foods high in fat, salt and sugar.
“The aisles of our grocery stores are full of parents quickly pulling cans off the shelf or pizzas out of the freezer while doing business on their phones, their kids in tow,” she said. “Most Canadians don’t have time to read complex labels on the go.”
She said her government will support a bill before the House of Commons on unhealthy food and beverage marketing to children 16 years and younger.
According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, 90 per cent of products marketed to kids and teens on TV and online are high in salt, fat or sugar.
It will also modernize Canada’s stale Food Guide. The guide, which is being overhauled for the first time in a decade and expected to be released early next year, will recommend people eat more protein from plant-based foods.
While the guidelines will encourage Canadians to consume less red meat and some dairy products like cheese, the minister said Saturday they are not telling people to cut them out of their diet.
“The change we are proposing is not to tell Canadians what to eat but how to eat to get the nutrients they need. “That’s really what this is all about,” she said, after her keynote speech.