New improved food guide

[razz]

Not sure what the food guide is for the US but the Canadian one has the diet divided into food groups. There are calls f
or a major revision due to the growing obesity and processed food intake. Suggestions have been made to create a similar guide to Brazil's guide. It is very different. What do you think about food guides in general and the one from Brazil?

http://www.fao.org/nutrition/educati...ons/brazil/en/

[rodeosweetheart]

Not sure what the food guide is for the US but the Canadian one has the diet divided into food groups. There are calls f
or a major revision due to the growing obesity and processed food intake. Suggestions have been made to create a similar guide to Brazil's guide. It is very different. What do you think about food guides in general and the one from Brazil?

http://www.fao.org/nutrition/educati...ons/brazil/en/

It looks great to me! If we follow those guidelines, we will be eating better.

[Mary B.]

razz, thanks for posting the link to the Brazil guide. Personally I really like it -- I like the focus on eating minimally-processed food, avoiding ultra processed snacks and all that, and I am also really interested in the more social ideas in their guide.

For instance, the suggestion, "Eat regularly and carefully in appropriate environments and, whenever possible, in company," is not something I've seen in anyone else's food guide, nor the suggestion about making food important and taking the time to learn to cook.

I suspect some people will find it overly interfering and complain about the nanny state. What I find about it is that it is not actually restrictive in what it tells you to eat -- there's nothing at all about X servings of this or that -- so it's really a tool for discussion and thought.

What did you think of it?

[rodeosweetheart]

I had not focused on the eating carefully and appropriately, but I really like that emphasis on the bigger picture, and the social aspects of food.

[ApatheticNoMore]

It's pretty good of course.

Of course I read things like eat with company and it should be minimally processed as: I must prepare food for others all the time. Well I'm a woman what can I say, it comes with the territory - ugh in that case I vant to be alone. (And bf works 60 hour weeks now - new job after period of unemployment, at least I've improved my birth family's food habits - my mom being a woman also cooks for others , even potlucks get exhausting though I guess that is the way to go with "eat food with others" although I'm not sure you know it is minimally processed without playing pantry police). I think fatigue and overwhelm is the main reason people wouldn't follow it. It's a lot of work to prepare food for oneself, and it's even more work to prepare enough food for not just oneself but others ("eat with company") all the time. I try to avoid really junky processed food, but fatigue etc. is when I do eat something somewhat processed, probably the case with most. But yea it's good advice for the most part (still not believing cheese is bad), just a little more aspirational than realistic sometimes.

[lessisbest]

I teach food and nutrition classes as a certified instructor. I began in the 1970's with the "Basic 4", which is what I follow today. Then we had to switch to teaching the Pyramid, New Pyramid, and now My Plate. There are too many carbs and too many calories for us on the newer eating plans, so I've stuck with what worked for us - the Basic 4.

I love the 10 Steps to Healthy Diets - good common sense. Thanks so much for taking the time to share the information. I'm going to be incorporating the 10-Steps in future classes.

[razz]

razz, thanks for posting the link to the Brazil guide. Personally I really like it

For instance, the suggestion, "Eat regularly and carefully in appropriate environments and, whenever possible, in company," is not something I've seen in anyone else's food guide, nor the suggestion about making food important and taking the time to learn to cook.

i agree that it is very sensible approach but puzzled that people needed to be advised to do this. Have we become such a drive-thru society that we need to be told to make food preparation a part of our lives? It seemed to be a message of slowdown and enjoy being alive and grateful for the food.

We seem to have become a society where a portion is assigned and people feel richer if they can get more than the portion and this contributes to obesity, IMHO anyway. Just thinking out loud here but not sure of my view.

[Amaranth]

Thanks for posting about the Brazil guide. Lots of good ideas there.

What would you add to the 10 steps? One I can think of (especially in suburban/city areas) is
Join a community/allotment garden and learn to grow some of your own food so you can have very fresh food.

[razz]

Thanks for posting about the Brazil guide. Lots of good ideas there.

What would you add to the 10 steps? One I can think of (especially in suburban/city areas) is
Join a community/allotment garden and learn to grow some of your own food so you can have very fresh food.

Will it meet the North American need for direction in dietary intake? How does it help the newer members of society who haven't learned to cook? What about the number of homes that have almost no kitchen - fridge, microwave and toaster only due to the switch to prepared food?

[ApatheticNoMore]

What would you add to the 10 steps? One I can think of (especially in suburban/city areas) is
Join a community/allotment garden and learn to grow some of your own food so you can have very fresh food.

I've thought about the logistics of this in the U.S., I think just what the Brazil guide has is more realistic (and takes a lot of planning even then). Because community gardens always have long wait lists, but also there aren't very many of them, so it would lead to people needing to drive or at least walk long distances to the community gardens which I think would be difficult to fit in most people's lives (and there is no point in having a lot if you let all the plants die because you don't get out there to water them kwim - unless some tasks were delegated). Whereas if you are growing stuff at your own home you are presumable there everyday, everyday you go home to your home and can take care of the plants if they need it, if you are minimally organized.

If anywhere is going to do the community garden on every block or ever few blocks it's probably the midwest or something, they seem very in to those types of things. I have had the buying a plot of vacant land for a community garden and creating one fantasy, after the housing bust when property was cheaper, but of course I imagined a lot of vacant land (not a house) as under 6 figures and that was probably never reality here.