Canada’s food guide has taken a new approach to providing advice on healthy eating by focusing on food choices and behaviours that promote healthy eating, such as cooking more often. It recommends consuming a variety of healthy foods each day, including vegetables and fruits, whole grain foods and protein foods. Among protein foods, the food guide recommends eating those from plant sources more often. While animal-based proteins like dairy and meat are still included in the food guide, shifting to a pattern of eating that has more plant-based foods is associated with better health outcomes, including lower risks of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and certain forms of cancer.

Plant-based proteins include foods such as beans, chickpeas, lentils, nuts, and seeds. Nutritionally speaking, in addition to protein, they contain fibre, healthy fats, and various vitamins and minerals. They are also naturally low in saturated fat, sodium and sugars.

Not only are plant-based proteins good for your health, they are also good for the environment, and many are grown here in Canada. In fact, Canada is the world’s largest producer and exporter of dry peas and lentils.¹

Despite their many benefits, many Canadians have yet to discover the versatility of plant-based proteins and are unsure how to use them in everyday cooking. This is why Health Canada is proud to collaborate with the Guelph

Family Health Study and George Brown College on the development of new recipes that use and highlight plant-based proteins and prioritizes the development of food skills for families.

This new cookbook provides families with useful information and inspiring recipes to apply Canada’s food guide in their kitchens. Cooking more often helps Canadians rely less on highly processed products, offers the opportunity to connect with family and friends through food, and helps set children up for a lifetime of healthy eating.

Health Canada commends the Guelph Family Health Study team for developing recipes that marry healthfulness and taste, and will help people find creative ways to include plant-based protein foods into everyday meals and snacks.

For more information about healthy eating visit www.canada.ca/foodguide

Yours sincerely,

Alfred AzizDirector General, Office of Nutrition Policy and PromotionHealth CanadaAlfred.Aziz@canada.ca

¹ National Research Council Canada. (2019). Plant-based protein market: global and Canadian market analysis