New Food Guide More Affordable

Canada's new Food Guide places more focus on plant-based eating and eliminated the four food groups that most Canadians have grown up with.

A new survey done by Dalhousie University and the University of Guelph shows that recommendations in the new Guide are more affordable than the previous version.

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is a professor in food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University.

"Essentially, what we found out is that the new Food Guide apparently costs less to follow than the old one by $1.98 a day for a family of four, which is certainly good news."

This is based on a cost comparison of foods and proportions recommended by both the 2007 and 2019 versions of the Guide.

The survey revealed that the Food Guide is the sixth most popular source for healthy eating advice, after family and friends, general research, social media, cookbooks and magazines, and TV programs.

30% of Canadians have viewed or referenced Canada’s Food Guide in the last 12 months.

The majority of Canadians (52.4%) say they face barriers to adopting the new Food Guide. In addition to Canadians’ perception that the new Food Guide means a more expensive plate, about 20% of respondents say the recommendations in the new Guide don’t fit their taste preferences, and almost 20% say the Guide either doesn’t reflect their dietary needs or that preparing the recommended foods would be too time-consuming.

The study was conducted over two days in February 2019. It surveyed 1,071 people across the country, including Québec, in both English and French.