New Canada Food Guide gets a passing grade

Canada's new food guide has taken a sharp turn away from the "eat so many portions of various food groups" approach it has taken for decades past.
I don't know how many people actually consult or take the Canada Food Guide seriously - apparently, it is among the government's most requested publications - but I think that most people have a pretty clear conception of the idea of food groups. and of portions or servings, which has been the basis of the Canada Food Guides since their inception in the 1940s. Most recently, this has featured four food groups: grain products, vegetables and fruit, milk products, meat and alternatives.
In this latest rendition, though, gone are the food groups, and gone are portions, replaced by the more immediately visual, and perhaps more intuitive, representation of a dinner plate split into half fruit and vegetables ("Have plenty of vegetables and fruits"), quarter protein ("Eat protein foods"), and quarter whole grains ("Choose wholegrain foods"), along with a simple glass of water ("Make water your drink of choice").
The plate shows multiple examples of various food choices all combined together, which is not necessarily how an actual meal would look, but it gives a good visual guide to what kinds of things a meal should include, and (crucially) in what proportion.
Notably, the protein quarter combines meat, dairy and pulses/legumes/tofu, with the latter being in a distinct majority. There is no actual mention of "meat" or "dairy" anywhere, and there's no exhortation to drink glasses of milk or juice, etc, so the government has clearly not given in to pressure from the powerful meat, dairy and juice lobbies, which is refreshing. The (increasingly powerful, but still disorganized) vegan lobby must be pleased.
Below the image of a plate is a set of general food advice snippets - short pithy sentences with photos - including, "Be mindful of your eating habits", "Cook more often", "Enjoy your food", " Eat meals with others", "Use food labels", "Limit foods high in sodium, sugars or saturated fat" and "Be aware of food marketing", and a final exhortation to "Eat well. Live well". All good sound advice, presented simply snd clearly, nothing controversial, nothing to get upset about.
Useful? Sure, although even this version of the Canada Food Guide is unlikely to change anything much. The people who need to see it will still not look at it, and those that do look at it are probably already following good habits. Certainly, though, the apparently conscious move away from meat and dairy is to be applauded, and just might give some borderline people pause. You might come across the Guide in doctors' offices or school cafeterias, and you might think, "oh, so the government endorses a more plant-based diet", and that can only be a good thing.