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It’s time to teach our kids how to cook – sign the petition now

Posted on September 3, 2014

Kudos to the Ontario Home Economics Association (OHEA)! The association is spearheading a petition to mandate at least one food and nutrition course in high school.

According to Mary Carver, Professional Home Economist and member of OHEA, “all children need to have the basics of nutrition and some cooking skills so that they know how to make food from scratch and don’t reach out so often for fast food or prepared entrées that are readily available.”

I couldn’t agree more. As a dietitian and chef’s daughter, I know first hand the benefits of eating a wholesome, home cooked meal. Teaching kids to cook not only gives them confidence in the kitchen, but also a life skill that boosts their food literacy.

Food literacy, the latest buzzword, is defined as the knowledge and skills (planning, budgeting, shopping and cooking) that help people make healthy, tasty and affordable meals for themselves and their families. It’s about getting involved with food – at the grocery store choosing locally grown foods, in the kitchen trying a new recipe, or even going on a family outing to an apple orchard.

Please take a minute to sign the OHEA petition asking for at least one mandatory food and nutrition course in Ontario schools. The goal is to attain 2,000 signatures by October 31st. You’ll be glad you did.

Tell Health Canada what you think about the proposed new food labels

Posted on August 1, 2014

Health Canada recently announced proposed new changes to the Nutrition Facts table and ingredients lists with the goal of improving nutrition information on food labels.

Some of the key proposed changes include:
– listing Calories in a bigger and bold font
– using consistent serving sizes on similar foods
– increasing the Daily Value for fat and calcium, and decreasing the Daily Value for sodium
– adding information about added sugars by including a % Daily Value for sugars as well as showing the amount of added sugars in the product
– removing vitamins A and C, but adding potassium and vitamin D to the label
– grouping nutrients that we should limit (fat, sodium and sugar) at the top half of the label
– grouping nutrients that we need to get enough of (fibre, vitamins, minerals) at the bottom half of the label.

The consultation period is now open, and all consumers and stakeholders are invited to provide input on the proposed changes. Please take the time to have your say and share your feedback in shaping this important nutrition labelling regulation.

Health Canada has developed fact sheets on: Nutrition Facts table and Ingredient List, Serving Sizes and Sugar Content as well as an Executive Summary of the proposed changes. Consumers can provide their feedback through a 10 question online survey.

For food and health professionals, there is also a series of five technical consultation documents which explain the rationale for the proposed changes: Format Requirements, Core Nutrients, Daily Values (%DV), Reference Amounts and Serving Sizes. You are also invited to provide feedback to each of these consultation documents.

All comments must be submitted to Health Canada by September 11, 2014.

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