Ontarians want simplified healthy eating, from ‘Shopping Cart to Table’

Metro-OCNA

Cara Rosenbloom, Registered Dietician

Registered dietitian Cara Rosenbloom knows that healthy eating is important to the health of Ontarians. The results of a recent survey conducted by Metro reveals that almost all Ontarians (99 per cent) consider it important to eat healthily; however, only 22 per cent said they find it very easy to identify healthy options.

“Healthy eating should be an everyday goal,” said Cara Rosenbloom, registered dietitian. “Ontarians want to eat better, and almost 80 per cent say they would like to eat healthily more often. The My Healthy Plate with Metro program offers in-store and online tools to help Ontarians make better food decisions and live well.”

Cara has collaborated with Metro to develop the My Healthy Plate with Metro program, which is based on simple nutritional advice to help Ontarians make healthier choices. The My Healthy Plate with Metro program helps consumers identify products that are “good choices” and “great choices,” clearly identified by a red smile on the price tags of more than 3,000 products across the entire store.

Below are five tips from Cara to help integrate healthy choices more easily, from shopping cart to table:

–          Eat Fresh: Aim to increase fruits and vegetables in your cart and on your plate, and remember, the more colours, the better

–          Cook at home: Learn to love cooking at home, use fresh ingredients and keep them as natural as possible

–          Start with the perimeter: Shop the perimeter of the store first for fresh foods, then work your way in to the aisles

–          Choose wisely: Try to pick the best possible foods from the different categories of the grocery store.  Remember to look for the “good choice and great choice” smile icon on Metro’s price tags to help simplify healthy selections

–          Try something new: Broaden your shopping horizon by choosing and cooking with fresh produce and ingredients that you’ve never tried before

Metro partnered with the McGill Centre for the Convergence of Health and Economics (MCCHE), to form a Scientific Advisory Committee to monitor the implementation of the program. The MCCHE is a world leader in promoting the development of an innovative and integrated approach to studying world health problems linked to nutrition.

For more information about the My Healthy Plate with Metro program, Cara Rosenbloom’s healthy tips, as well as simple and delicious recipes, visit www.metro.ca and become a fan of Metro on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/MetroOntario.