Message from the editor

Hello, and welcome to Spring! Both the season and the magazine were a little late this year, so I apologize on behalf of Mother Nature and of course, myself.

You will notice that one of our stories is on the updates to the Canada Food Guide. I am sure most of you noticed or heard about it, mostly because of the switch to a more plant-based diet, and because industry wasn’t allowed an opportunity to comment and affect the development of recommendations.

The guide asks Canadians to choose more plant-based proteins, but doesn’t specifically say how much meat to eat. However, the plate photo that represents the guide is pretty telling – it’s hard to even find the meat in the picture.

Will that change again in future years as we learn more about nutrition, and more research is done? Probably. And that’s the important consideration – nutritional science doesn’t change on a whim – it is changed by science. And science is ever-changing… that’s just the nature of the beast. When you think about what we know now compared to 100 years ago, when you think about cancer treatments, life expectancy, infant mortality rates… the researchers get it right, through trial and error. There is no other way.

Personally, I’m ok that they didn’t consult with industry. I mean, would we have wanted them to consult with Pepsi? Or the leading potato chip manufacturer? I think it’s important to take a step back and think about the implications of industry influence on policy. In the meantime, we can funnel our disappointment into more research on human nutrition and what we can do as an industry to make our own product as nutritious as possible. 

Speaking of science – our next issue is dedicated to it! So be sure to send in your research articles, or even your own story about how research and science in agriculture has changed your life.  And please don’t forget to start taking photos for our front page contests! There are prizes to be won, but only if we receive multiple entries. 

Stay safe out there, and as always, thank you for your continued support, and for reading.

Sheri Monk
sherimonk@gmail.com

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