By Richard Tardif
March of course is Nutrition Month in Canada, but for half of Canadians they might not even notice. Life and family is keeping us occupied, with one in 10 finding it a challenge to eat a balanced diet, occasionally cooking together at home; instead, opting for the less healthy, fast and readily available choices.
Under the 2018 campaign, Unlock the Potential of Food, The Dietitians of Canada believes returning to traditional family cooking brings families together and opens up a world of discovering basic ingredients and nourishing foods, something that could contribute to turning the tide on obesity.
Atena Barforoushi, who prepares two meals a week for teenagers at a youth centre in Lachine, is a witness to how cooking brings people together. “The teenagers are important to me and that’s why I use all my passion to bring them together to learn to cook healthy, easy and delicious foods,” she says. Barforoushi, who also offers cooking classes for adults, makes it a point to never prepare the same meal twice. “This way they learn that to use different ingredients in cooking is possible, delicious, healthy and creative. They learn and enjoy team work.”
The youth centre celebrates nutrition all year, an uphill battle, given the fast-paced lifestyle people are leading, with quality food low on the priority list, according to an Ipsos 2018 Game Changer report in February of 2018 report The Renovation of Canadian Eating Routines. The report discussed trends that are transforming Canadians’ choices revealing that families do not have the time or desire to plan meals as far in advance as was the norm in past years. More than half of all decisions about what is for dinner are now “day of” events.
The “day of” factors into the “finger-tip” convenience, which is the dominant factor driving decisions about what to eat and drink. Simple, easy, available, no planning, no preparation and close by are all important criteria in determining what is convenient.
Helen Neves, a personal trainer with a BSc in Exercise Science from Concordia University, a Master Instructor at the YMCA in Montreal and a health entrepreneur, finds it perplexing that we require food for survival yet she wonders why people dedicate little time to its importance. “We need water but most people drink anything but water! We need sleep yet so many have disrupted sleeping patterns! We need to breath yet there is so much dysfunctional breathing out there. Our bodies need to move yet most people do not get enough movement.”
Neves considers that in our daily work life it may be about the survival of the fittest. “By fittest I mean mentally, emotionally and physically, making the right choices and setting priorities in the right order for health and survival in our fast-paced world.”
March is Nutrition Month in Canada, as it has been for the last 30 years. How food not only nourishes, but also fuels active lives, inspires children, helps to heal, prevents chronic diseases – and most importantly – brings people together, is its focus.
“Having children join you in the kitchen lets them discover basic ingredients and nourishing food, but sadly many are missing out on this crucial experience,” says Madonna Achkar, Nutrition Month spokesperson. “More than 38 percent of parents rarely or never let their children prepare a meal; inspiring children to prepare and cook food sets them up for a lifetime of healthy eating.”
Richard Tardif is an author, personal fitness trainer, and an award-winning health and fitness journalist writing and teaching about health and wellness for over 20 years. Stop the Denial: A Case for Embracing the Truth about Fitness, published by Smiling Eye Press, is his debut book. Email at richard@richardtardif.com
