Collaborative Proposal Creation
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- Proposal text
- The GPC fully and unequivocally supports the recommendations of Canada’s Food Guide 2019, particularly its emphases on consuming largely plant-based diets; addressing issues of nutritious food access and food insecurity affecting low-income, immigrant, and Indigenous people; increasing food skills and food literacy; and considering the environmental impacts of food choices.
- Type of Proposal
- Public policy that the party would represent
- Objective / Benefit
- Objective This initiative will bring the party’s food and health policies in line with evidence-based nutrition, correct the previous platform’s statement in support of dairy, and will further commitments to environmental sustainability, to social justice in general, and to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in particular. Benefit Adopting this initiative will strengthen the Green Party of Canada’s commitment to science-based policy, and will substantively further its commitment to supporting the health of Canadians; to decreasing healthcare costs; to alleviating inequities facing low-income, immigrant, and Indigenous people; and to reducing environmental degradation.
- If your proposal replaces an existing policy or policies, which one does it replace?
- Add to current GPC policy 1998 - Agriculture.
- List any supporting evidence for your proposal
- 1. American Medical Association. Culturally Responsive Dietary and Nutritional Guidelines. https://policysearch.ama-assn.org/policyfinder/detail/D-440.978?uri=%2FAMADoc%2Fdirectives.xml-0-1522.xml 2. Canadian pharmacists journal. "Canada's new Healthy Eating Strategy: Implications for health care professionals and a call to action." https://doi.org/10.1177/1715163519834891 3. Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance of Canada. Submission to SOCI regarding Bill S-228[...] https://sencanada.ca/content/sen/committee/421/SOCI/Briefs/ChronicDiseasePreventionAlliance_e.pdf 4. Should dairy be recommended as part of a healthy vegetarian diet? American Journal of Clinical Nutrition https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19321571/ 5. Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine. “Doctors Call on Dietary Guidelines to Ditch Dairy to Fight Racial Health Disparities.” https://www.pcrm.org/news/news-releases/doctors-call-dietary-guidelines-ditch-dairy-fight-racial-health-disparities
- Does this proposal affect any particular group and what efforts have been made to consult with the group or groups?
- N/A
- Jurisdiction: Is this proposal under federal jurisdiction?
- Yes
- Please indicate the language the proposal is being submitted in.
- English
Amendments (1)
Amendment
Evaluating
Proposal Title:Science-Based Food Policy: Selective Support of the 2019 Canada Food GuideProposal...
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Created at
23/02/2024 -
- 1
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Reference: PVC-PROP-2023-08-4147
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Conversation with Barry Mabillard
The wording "fully and unequivocally supports" is too strong an endorsement, as many members of the GPC would dispute the inclusion of any animal products whatsoever in the 2019 Canadian Food Guide. It also leads to policy inconsistency, as G23-P016 is calling for phasing out subsidies to animal agriculture. Good policy won't endorse a product unequivocally in one section and then oppose the product in another section.
Hi Barry,
I just posted a long reply to Lorna. Can you read that and elaborate on what you mean about policy inconsistency?
We over-consume and subsidize animal agriculture to such an extreme that this policy of following the Food Guide would by consistent with phasing out animal agriculture subsidies.
I linked the EAT-Lancet Planetary Health diet in my reply to her but I'll add it here as well because it's the only guidelines I've found that specifically discuss quantities.
Take a look at slide 15 for the image of how much we're over-consuming animals and under-consuming plants.
Also take a look around your community and notice all the opportunities to eat animals and compare that to the lack of opportunity to eat plants/plant based proteins **not contaminated by dairy/eggs.
Take a look at slide 10 for caloric recommendations of different foods, and slide 15 showing how much we're overconsuming.
https://www.anh-academy.org/sites/default/files/Ag2Nut%20EAT%20Lancet%20Commission%20Slides%20FINAL.pdf
The phrase "unequivocally supports" means supporting to the highest degree possible. It is essentially saying that perfection has been achieved and no further changes are necessary.
Consider the following example to better understand the point I am trying to raise about inconsistency. I am using the less politically-charged topic of insulation materials to help keep the focus on the semantics and logic flow:
A 1965 building code recommends several types of insulation material, including fibreglass, cellulose, and asbestos. John, an insulation installer, says he unequivocally supports the 1965 building code. However, John refuses to install asbestos because the material is hazardous to health and better alternatives are available. Does John "unequivocally support" the 1965 building code? The answer is no, since his refusal to install asbestos demonstrates that he would not recommend asbestos himself, and therefore disagrees with the 1965 building code that does recommend asbestos. John would probably be quite happy if the 1965 building code were amended to remove asbestos altogether from its recommendations.
Returning now to the topic at hand, consider the following policy proposals and the logic flow:
G23-P015 says: "The GPC fully and unequivocally supports the recommendations of Canada’s Food Guide 2019..."
G23-P016 says: "The GPC supports phasing out subsidies to the animal agriculture industry ... encouraging the production of alternatives to that industry’s animal products."
The 2019 Canadian Food Guide recommends eating both plant and animal products. The GPC says they fully and unequivocally support the 2019 food guide. However, the GPC has a policy that encourages the phasing-out of animal products because they are harmful to the environment and better alternatives are available. Does the GPC "unequivocally support" the 2019 Canadian Food Guide? The answer is no, since a policy calling for a phase-out of subsidies to animal agriculture demonstrates that the GPC would not endorse animal products themselves, and therefore disagree with the 2019 food guide that does endorse animal products. The GPC would probably be quite happy if the 2019 food guide were amended to remove animal products altogether from the recommendations.
To fix this, either G23-P015 or G23-P016 needs to be changed.
If P015 is kept as is, then P016 becomes inconsistent and should be dropped.
If P016 is kept as is, then P015 should be reworded to something like "The GPC selectively supports the recommendations of Canada’s Food Guide 2019..." By using the phrase "selectively" instead of "fully and unequivocally", this allows the GPC to pick and choose which sections of the 2019 food guide receive the GPC's endorsement. This removes the inconsistency between P015 and P016.
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