February 1, 2023 • 29 mins
Trying to make sense of Canada’s Food Guide and how to implement some of their recommendations? We had questions too and sought the expertise of Sue Mah, a registered dietitian from the Toronto area. Sue will walk through seven different, easy to implement tips, that will allow each of us can eat better and live a healthier life.
Host: Clinton Monchuk
Clinton Monchuk grew up on a mixed dairy, beef and grain family farm outside of Lanigan, Saskatchewan. He received his Bachelors of Science in Agriculture majoring in Agricultural Economics from the University of Saskatchewan and Masters of Business Administration in Agriculture from the University of Guelph. Clinton has enjoyed numerous roles across Canada, the United States and Mexico as a researcher, educator, manager, economist and director of trade policy.
In 2016 Clinton accepted the role of Executive Director with Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan to promote farming and ranching to consumers. Clinton understands the value of increasing public trust in agriculture and actively promotes engagement between the agriculture industry and consumers.
Clinton, Laura and their children Jackson and Katelyn, continue to be active partners on their family grain and layer farm in Saskatchewan and cattle ranch in Oklahoma
Guest: Sue Mah, MHSc, RD, PHEc, FDC
Founder & President, Nutrition Solutions Inc.
Sue@NutritionSolutions.ca
Instagram / Twitter / TikTok / YouTube: @SueMahRD
Sue is a multiple award-winning registered dietitian, TV personality and daughter of a chef. With a natural passion for delicious, wholesome food, Sue shares sensible advice to inspire Canadians to eat well and live well. She has appeared in over 500 media features, 12 TV commercials and 35 TV shows including Breakfast Television, CTV Your Morning, and CBC National News.
As the Founder and President of the consulting agency Nutrition Solutions, Sue partners with agricultural commodities, food industry, government and health associations to translate nutrition trends and science into strategic communications. She is currently a writer for Canadian Food Focus.
Sue is a Fellow of Dietitians of Canada and the 2019 recipient of the C.P. Shah Award for Excellence in Public Health. Her outstanding work in dietetics was honoured with an Award for Innovation, and she was named the 2017 Dietitian of the Year by the Dietitians of Canada Business and Industry Network.
Resources:
Article: 7 ways to eat better every day
Applying dietary guidelines
Episode Credits: Research and writing by Dorothy Long and Penny Eaton, Produced and edited by Angela Larson, Music by Andy Ellison-Track title: Gravel Road
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Clinton Monchuk (00:07):
From Canadian Food Focus, this is Ask A Farmer
.
I'm your host Clinton Monchuk.
A Saskatchewan farmer.
In this podcast, we talk to foodexperts to answer your questions
about your food.
(00:30):
Today we have a very specialguest.
We have Sue Mah with us.
Sue, how are you doing today?
Sue Mah (00:36):
I'm doing great.
So good to see you Clinton.
Clinton Monchuk (00:38):
It's great that you can make it on the show
today.
So Sue, just to give everybody alittle bit of a background into
who you are, do you want to justexplain a little bit of how you
came to be and kind of yourquest right now as a registered
dietitian to inform people abouteating better?
Sue Mah (00:59):
I grew up in a family that values food and health and
wellness.
So my grandfather was the firstmedical acupuncturist in
Toronto, and my dad is atraditional Chinese chef.
So throughout my entire life, weused food not just for
celebration and joy, but alsofor medicine.
And so when I went to school oneday, I was in elementary school
(01:21):
and I was on the track and fieldteam and my dad woke up in the
morning and said, Sue, I'm gonnamake you like some noodles for
breakfast because I heard thatcarbohydrates are good for
energy.
And I thought, what?
Like, I was probably seven oreight.
I thought, what carbohydrates?
What's that?
And so that sparked my interestin sports nutrition.
And I was active through highschool on the track and field
team, cross country, and went touniversity and pursued a degree
(01:44):
in nutrition.
Loved it, and pursued mymaster's degree also in
community nutrition.
Worked in public health for awhile.
Loved it, loved it, loved it.
But one day, Hal Johnson andJoanne McLeod, you probably know
them right, body break.
Clinton Monchuk (01:59):
Mm-hmm.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
I don't think anybody in Canadadoesn't know who that is.
Sue Mah (02:06):
They're like the fitness guru.
They're a couple.
And they called me one day andsaid, Hey Sue, we saw you on tv.
Wondered if you wanna be ourdietitian on our national TV
show Body Break.
Wow.
What an honor.
I knew I didn't really have alot of experience on the media.
I did a few TV interviews, but Iknew this was a great
opportunity.
So I did a season of shows withthem, loved it so much that I
(02:29):
quit my day job with thegovernment and just opened up my
own business as a mediadietitian, working with
agricultural, commodities, foodindustry, health associations,
and government to really bringsensible, credible,
evidence-based nutritioninformation to consumers through
the media, through my blogs,through tv, through social
media.
So here I am today, still goingstrong on national TV about once
(02:51):
a month.
Yeah.
And it's lots of fun.
Just as farmers and dieticians,we have a similarity i n that we
wanna share credible nutrition,passionate information to help
consumers eat well and livewell.
Clinton Monchuk (03:03):
Yeah, I think that gets at the core of what
we're going to be talking abouttoday.
And you've already made mentionof it.
I think there's a lot ofinformation that's out there,
right?
And some of it's worthwhile,some of it's not.
But for those who aren'tfamiliar with either growing
food or what your body actuallyneeds, it can be really
confusing and in an effort tokind of combat some of that, you
(03:26):
wrote an excellent article onCanadianfoodfocus.org talking
about the seven ways that we caneat better every day.
Now, do you wanna explain alittle bit more about that?
Because I think a lot of thelisteners would really value
what you have to say about thatand how they can just eat
healthy and be healthier asindividuals.
Sue Mah (03:44):
Yeah, absolutely.
Thanks for that opportunity.
So you're familiar with theCanada's Food Guide that came
out and it was a very differentCanada's food guide, like no
more food groups.
We all went to school learningabout these four food groups and
the rainbow and the sun.
So that's completely gone.
Instead of food groups, there'sfood groupings.
So we're looking at vegetablesand fruits, whole grains and
(04:06):
proteins, that's food groupings.
There's no serving sizes,there's no recommended number of
servings.
So it's a very different foodguide.
Following the food guide,another report was released and
this report was called Applyingthe Dietary Guidelines as
dietitians and as healthprofessionals, we read that
advice and embedded in thoseguidelines were specific
(04:28):
recommendations on how Canadianscan eat better every day to meet
their nutrient needs.
So that's what inspired theblog, seven Ways to Eat Better
Every Day.
And I'll just run through themreally quickly, what the seven
ways are.
And it's designed to just besimple, easy, right?
So number one, eat a dark greenvegetable every single day.
Now, according to Health Canada,vegetables and fruit make up
(04:50):
less than 25% of the foods thatwe eat.
And it really should be 50%,right?
Like think half the platevegetables and fruit.
Now why dark green vegetableswill they offer folate and iron?
And these are two very importantnutrients needed for red blood
cells.
They carry the oxygen from ourlungs throughout our body.
And if you're pregnant, you needeven more folate through a
(05:12):
supplement.
So I'm going give you a littlequiz.
Clinton put you on the spothere.
Eat a dark green vegetable everyday.
Can you name five differentgreen vegetables?
Clinton Monchuk (05:24):
See, this wasn't part of the, this wasn't
part of the show, so I just hadbroccoli.
Had one before this podcast.
I'll say, can I name thedifferent types of lettuce or
can I only name one?
Sue Mah (05:37):
Oh, you can name the different types.
I'll accept that as an answer.
Clinton Monchuk (05:40):
So romaine lettuce, yes.
Is gonna be one.
Actually, I'll switch it up andI'll say Spinach.
So I got three there.
And I'm trying to think of othergreen things that are in our
fridge.
I'm failing, I'm failingmiserably.
Sue Mah (05:54):
take as much t ime as you want.
Clinton Monchuk (05:58):
I'm drawing blanks here.
Oh, uh, we, we have those, thelittle brains.
Brussel sprouts,
Sue Mah (06:05):
Brussels sprouts.
Got it.
Clinton Monchuk (06:07):
Kale,Uh, green beans, peas.
Actually I'm just on a roll now.
Sue Mah (06:11):
There you go.
You're on a roll now.
See, there you go.
More than five.
Awesome.
And so yeah, this is, you know,this is what we want consumers
to think about.
Think green.
So you've named so many greatones.
There's kale, there's greenbeans, fiddleheads, fresh
parsley counts as a greenvegetable.
Okra, Chinese gailan which isChinese broccoli, asparagus,
arugula.
So one green vegetable everysingle day.
(06:35):
Okay, so that's number one.
Tip number one, tip number two,eat an orange vegetable a few
times a week.
And why do we need this?
Well orange vegetables give usbeta keratin, which then convert
into vitamin A in our body.
And we need vitamin A for ourvision, for our skin.
And also to keep a stronghealthy immune system.
(06:56):
Men especially tend to belacking beta keratin.
So it's recommended that men andeven those who are breastfeeding
eat an orange vegetable likemore than a few times a week.
On most days of the week, youshould be eating an orange
veggie.
So I'm gonna quiz you again,five orange veggies.
What do you think?
Clinton Monchuk (07:17):
Okay, let's see.
Okay, so my wife's from thesouth, so sweet potato is number
one.
Carrots.
Sue Mah (07:23):
Yes.
Clinton Monchuk (07:23):
I'll say squash.
You can have orange squash,peppers.
Sue Mah (07:27):
I'll give you a hint.
Halloween.
Clinton Monchuk (07:30):
Oh pumpkin.
Sue Mah (07:32):
Yeah, you got it.
Five.
They're all great orange veggiesthat provide the beta keratin.
Tip number three, enjoy avariety of whole grains.
And so on average less than 30%of the grains we eat are whole
grains.
And we're trying to bump that upa little bit.
So whole grains offer like thebundle of nutrients, right?
We get the nutrients from allthree parts of the grain, the
(07:54):
bran, the germ, and theendosperm.
Ready for the next quiz.
Five examples of whole grains.
C linton
Clinton Monchuk (08:02):
I should know this, right?
Like I, I farm wheat, so Ishould, I should know.
Okay, so I'll say whole wheatbread.
Sue Mah (08:09):
Yeah, you got it.
Clinton Monchuk (08:10):
Whole grains, granola,
Sue Mah (08:12):
Uh, what's in the granola?
Clinton Monchuk (08:13):
Okay, oats.
Uh, brown rice.
Sue Mah (08:16):
Brown rice.
Yes.
Clinton Monchuk (08:17):
Whole wheat spaghetti.
Sue Mah (08:19):
Sure, I'll take that whole wheat spaghetti.
Clinton Monchuk (08:21):
.
I'll take that.
What about pearl barley?
Sue Mah (08:23):
Barley?
I'll take barley too.
So all.
So you've named five wholegrains.
Excellent.
Doing well, Clinton doing well.
Uh, buckwheat, amaranth, vulgarcorn, popcorn, millet, farrow,
cama, those are all other typesof whole grains and you can
really experiment with them.
And whole grains tend to havethat sort of nutty, crunchy,
(08:46):
chewy texture, which is reallynice.
Okay, so let's move on.
Tip number four, enjoy legumes,tofu, nuts or seeds every day
for protein.
And this is a big change fromthe old food guide because the
old food guide would just say,you know, protein foods, meat
and meat alternatives.
Now the recommendation islegumes, tofu, nuts and seeds
every single day.
(09:07):
Now, it doesn't have to be yoursole source of protein, but if
you're having a snack or let'ssay you're having a stir fry, go
ahead and throw some cashews orpeanuts or nuts on top right
beans, throw it into a chili orsoup.
I have a really good recipe forlentil shepherd's pie.
Delicious.
And you know, we grow a lot oflentils here in Canada, so why
not make use of the deliciousfood that we grow right here at
(09:30):
home?
Okay, tip number five, eat foodswith unsaturated fat.
And this is the type of fat thatis healthier for our heart.
So the unsaturated fat would befound in foods like avocado,
fatty fish, salmon, sardines,arctic char, rainbow trout,
nuts, nut butter seeds, seedbutter, tofu oil, like canola
(09:55):
oil, right?
That's another great source forthese healthy unsaturated fats
also.
Clinton Monchuk (10:01):
So just a question on that.
Is chicken considered anunsaturated fat then as well?
Sue Mah (10:06):
It's a good question.
So many meats have a combinationof saturated and unsaturated
fat.
So it's not one or the other,but it's more of a blend.
Now, chicken does contain theunsaturated fat, but the skin of
the chicken or the poultry willbe mostly saturated fat.
So what do I do in my household?
I cook with the skin on andthen, you know, I don't eat all
(10:28):
of the skin.
It is tasty of course, but I'llmaybe just, you know, cut half
and just eat a small amount ofthat skin for flavor.
And you know, a little bit ofsaturated fat is okay, but we
want mostly unsaturated fats.
A ll r ight, ready for tipnumber six?
Tip number six.
Get calcium every single day.
At all stages of life.
(10:50):
We need calcium.
And I have a question for you.
Who needs more calcium?
A four y ear o ld child or a 70year o ld male?
Clinton Monchuk (11:03):
I got to disclose right off the bat.
So I came from a dairy farm andI would say we all need it
Sue Mah (11:08):
We all need it.
We sure do.
Clinton Monchuk (11:10):
However, I'm going to say the older person
probably needs more.
And like I still drink quite abit of milk every day, but just
with the aging process, I feelthat our bodies would kind of
use up more calcium every daythan a young child.
But tell me if I'm right orwrong.
Sue Mah (11:29):
You're right.
Yes, you're right.
And I knew that you had a dairyfarm in your family.
so I figured you'd get t hisquestion right.
But you know, it speaks to thepoint that yes, we do need
calcium at all stages.
You think the growing childneeds calcium to maximize their
bone mass?
Yes, that is true.
But as we get older, we losethat bone mass naturally.
(11:52):
And so the male and the femaleover 70 years old needs more
calcium than that four y ear old child to minimize the bone
loss, the bone mass loss thatnaturally occurs as we age.
And I'm glad that you continueto drink milk.
As you know, milk, yogurt,cheese a re excellent sources of
calcium.
You can also get calcium fromplant-based fortified beverages
(12:14):
like fortified soy beverage orfortified cashew beverage.
W e have to make sure it'sfortified with calcium, though
tofu that's made with calciumcontains calcium.
legumes like those chickpeas,kidney beans, canned f ish,
canned salmon with the bones.
You have to eat the bones to getthe calcium.
And some of those leafy greensalso contain calcium.
(12:35):
So bok choy, broccoli, rapini,arugula can all provide some
calcium.
Last tip, get vitamin D everyday from food and possibly even
supplements.
So vitamin D is made through ourskin when we're exposed to the
sunshine.
But you know, from October toabout march here in Canada,
(12:57):
there just isn't enough sunshineto produce vitamin D.
So we need a supplement in thesewinter months.
Examples of foods with vitaminD, fatty fish, salmon,
excellent, right.
Mushrooms also naturally containsome vitamin D.
Margarine is fortified withvitamin D milk also contains
vitamin D and eggs.
(13:18):
So two large eggs give you about8% of your vitamin D for the
day.
And I wanted to ask you abouteggs.
B ecause I know that you've gotMegg f arms, which is your
Clinton Monchuk (13:28):
Egg farm.
Yeah, Monchuk egg farms.
Sue Mah (13:31):
Monchuk egg farm.
7,000 or 8,000 hens.
Yeah, tell me about that.
Clinton Monchuk (13:37):
It's a new venture that my brother and I
got into.
So we're predominantly a grainfarm in rural Saskatchewan, but
we were part of a new entrantprogram about seven years ago
where we could get into theindustry and we built a brand
new barn and have been producingeggs.
Now this is our sixth or seventhflock now.
So it's a huge learning curvebecause it's, it's one of those
(14:00):
things that we had a little bitof knowledge about, but not a
huge amount of knowledge in.
So you know, we've beenswitching things up, trying to
make sure that when it getsreally, really cold outside, how
to put the vents on and makesure we have fresh air coming
in, but still warm air from ourheaters.
So every day's a littledifferent, but it's super
(14:21):
interesting and it's one ofthose things where I don't think
a lot of people realize how muchtime and effort go into making
sure the birds are comfortable.
Our birds are what they callfree run.
So they move around in the barnand we monitor them three, four
times a day.
If somebody walks through thebarn, it's pretty fun actually.
It's something different.
(14:42):
But as a result of that, I getfarm fresh eggs all the time and
I do eat two eggs every dayalong with my wife as well.
Eats eggs every day.
I'm trying to get my kids to eatmore eggs, but they're still not
there yet.
My daughter, she feels like no,she doesn't need to.
My, my son's there periodically,but, and actually I need to ask
(15:04):
you this question.
So we eat eggs every day, butyou indicated that it's only
roughly 8% of the vitamin D.
So then if I drink a glass ofmilk and a couple eggs, I'm
still not getting my fair shareof vitamin D, am I?
Sue Mah (15:18):
You're falling just a little bit short with two eggs
and a glass of milk, right?
So it's totally okay to take avitamin D supplement to
supplement what you're gettingfrom food.
Absolutely.
And it's hard I think for manyCanadians to get enough vitamin
D.
I have a little fun idea foryour kids if you're interested
in getting them to have a bitmore eggs.
(15:39):
This was a recipe that I cookedup for my daughter when she was
young.
So you make a sunny side up egg,right?
So you've got that beautiful eggyolk in the middle and then you
get some whole grain breadtoasted up slice that toast into
thin strips and then arrangethose thin strips of toast
around the egg yolks.
(15:59):
You're almost making like a sun.
So the sun is in the middle, thepieces of toast become the rays
of the sun.
And then you serve that on aplatter with whatever else she
likes.
But it might just be a fun way,you know, have a sunshine egg
today for breakfast or dinner orlunch.
It might be a fun way for herand your son to get exposed to
that.
Clinton Monchuk (16:17):
I've become a little bit creative in what I'm
doing, so I do cover a piece oftoast right in egg and then fry
it up as french toast.
And she loves that, right?
So you fry it up that way andshe doesn't care.
I might try that like thesunshine she might be into
something like that.
I'll see, I'll see if I cantrick her with something l ike
that i n t he week to come.
Sue Mah (16:39):
Well my daughter also loved french toast, so great way
to get that egg in.
Clinton Monchuk (16:44):
Well that's awesome.
So you gave us a lot of ideas onhow to eat healthier and I think
some of them are just kind ofsimple little tips that we can
take throughout the day.
And we have been talking alittle bit about our kids,
there's a lot of activelifestyles, uh, that are out
there and how can we make itwhere we can balance the
convenience factor with thehealth factor?
(17:07):
Like we try to do it sometimes,but what are some good hints on
trying to keep that balanceright between healthy eating and
making sure those kids can, youknow, get out to the baseball
diamond or the hockey arena intime and still have enough juice
to last to the end of the thirdperiod?
Sue Mah (17:24):
Such a great question.
And you know, as a mom of twoactive kids, myself, I totally,
totally get it.
So I guess my first message isthat it's okay to use
convenience foods.
You know, sometimes I talk tosome of the moms at the hockey
rink or the baseball diamond andthey're like, oh, you know, we
had to do takeout or getconvenience.
You know what, it's okay, it'sbetter to have some nutrition
(17:46):
than no nutrition.
Let's remove the guilt factor.
And so my strategy is when youuse convenience foods, what can
you do?
What can you add to it to makeit even better, to make it even
more nutritious?
Okay, so for example, box ofmacaroni and cheese, it's
probably in every household,right?
Kids love it takes less thaneight minutes to cook.
(18:09):
What can we do to make thatbetter?
Well, you can throw in someleftover chicken, some leftover
beans, some leftover protein,and guess what?
Now you've got protein, you'vegot some carbohydrate.
What else can you do to make itbetter?
Can you throw in somevegetables, maybe some leftover
broccoli, zucchini green beans?
Can you serve it with a sidesalad?
(18:29):
Can you serve it with a smallwhole wheat bun?
What can we do to make thatconvenience food that we rely
on?
Cuz we're crunched for time.
What can we do to make itbetter?
So that's another example.
Frozen meatballs.
We have frozen meatballs in thehouse.
You just throw'em in the toasteroven, 20 minutes while that's
cooking up, I'm making the wholewheat pasta some sauce with red
(18:50):
peppers, mushrooms.
So it's totally okay to rely onconvenience foods.
Think of how you can take it tothe next level.
What can you do to make itbetter and more nutritious?
So that's my first tip.
My second tip is to meal plan.
When you know you've got a busyweek, you need to plan for it.
So plan your meals for the next2, 3, 4 days for the whole week
(19:13):
if you can.
But that's kind of tricky.
So plan your meals for the nexttwo or three days.
Look in your pantry, look inyour fridge, look in your
freezer, see what foods youalready have.
Check the store flyers, checkthose grocery apps to see what's
on sale.
And then pick out your recipes,right?
Get the kids involved, gothrough magazines, go online,
(19:34):
social media, internet,whatever.
Pick the recipes that you want.
Make your grocery list.
Then go to the store and pick upthe ingredients that you need.
So that's your plan.
Once you have the groceries thatyou need, then you do the meal
prep.
Okay, in meal prep, there'sactually four different types of
meal prep and I'm gonna walk youthrough each of them.
The first type of meal prep iscalled no cook meal prep.
(19:56):
I love this.
Clinton Monchuk (19:57):
I like that.
Yeah, no cook
Sue Mah (20:00):
No cooking whatsoever.
You know, the whole idea withmeal prep is just to sort of do
steps to save you time later on.
So the first type of meal prep,no cook meal prep, no cooking,
all you do is you prepare someingredients ahead of time.
You chop up the carrots, youdice the onions, you slice the
meat, you make your marinade,you chop the tofu.
(20:21):
That is going to give you a bighead start on that busy night
when you've gotta get food onthe table and the kids out the
door.
The second type of meal prep issingle ingredient batch prep.
So you take one or twoingredients and you make a big
pot of it.
So a big pot of brown rice, abig pot of pasta, and you plan
to use it different waysthroughout the week.
(20:43):
Or you roast a whole chicken,you know, you have it for dinner
one night, you use the leftoversfor a sandwich the next day, or
a salad.
So that's number two.
The third type of meal prep isbuffet style meal prep.
And here, like think about goingto a buffet, you know, it's so
good because there's so manydifferent choices.
See, you wanna sort of replicatethat idea at home.
(21:05):
So my recommendation is to batchcook one or two different types
of grains, maybe one or twotypes of proteins, two veggies
ahead of time, and then youstore them separately.
So let's say you make a bigbatch of pasta and brown rice,
those are your grains.
And then you want one or twoproteins.
So you might wanna fry up someground beef ahead of time with
(21:27):
the onions and the sauce.
And then your other proteinmight be some baked salmon.
And then you want at least twoveggies.
So you could steam some broccoliahead of time, or maybe you
could boil some frozen corn,something simple.
So then they're all ready to goindividually and
compartmentalize.
And basically you just assembleit to make your meal.
So, oh, I'm gonna have a bit ofthe rice, I'm gonna throw some
(21:49):
broccoli in.
I'll have a bit of that groundbeef, mix it up, add another
sauce, add the broccoli corneasy, right?
So that's the third type of mealprep.
The last type of meal prep isthe full meal prep where you
cook everything from start tofinish and then you freeze it
for when you need it.
So lasagnas, soups, casserole.
So don't think that you have todo the entire meal at once.
(22:11):
Play around and see which styleor strategy of meal prep works
for you.
Clinton Monchuk (22:16):
The idea of the buffet, that's the leftovers day
in our family, where it's checkout the fridge.
I'm not making anything tonightfor supper.
There's a lot of good things inthere.
Have your pick.
Sue Mah (22:28):
Absolutely just mix and match and everyone can have a
slightly different meal.
It's actually kind of fun.
Just pick and choose what youwant and you really customize
your meal.
Clinton Monchuk (22:36):
Yes, yes.
So this is a good halfway pointwhere we are going to have the
fun farm fact.
Today's fun farm fact is, didyou know that 98% of all
Canadian farms are family owned?
Sue Mah (22:57):
Wow,
Clinton Monchuk (22:59):
I think you already knew
Sue Mah (23:00):
That.
I kind of already knew it, but Iwanted to sound surprised.
Wow, it's incredible.
And the passion of the farmersand o h, what a joy it must be
to receive the farm from yourfamily, your grandfather and
your parents, and then maybepass that down, you know,
preserve the land, make the soileven better for the next
(23:21):
generations to come.
Clinton Monchuk (23:23):
That kind of gets into some of the
progression of farms andfamilies over the years.
You can see that there's a lotof pride that goes into, you
know, what we're doing on ourown land and how we're trying to
make it better.
Not only for, so I farm with mybrother right now, but for his
daughters one day, or my son ordaughter one day if they decide
(23:43):
to take over the farm.
So it's, it's trying to makesure that we're doing that
right, making sure it's viableinto the future and using the
different technologies that arethere.
So you mentioned already thatyour father was a chef, right?
And cooking Asian cuisine.
So I grew up in a Ukrainianhousehold.
The last name Monchuk isUkrainian.
Actually, I found out that wewere from the Lviv area of the
(24:07):
Ukraine a little while ago now.
I grew up as meat and potatoes,sausages, perogies, beef, mashed
potatoes.
I'm looking back and I, my momclaims that there were
vegetables on the table andmaybe I just didn't eat them at
at my time.
But how do you balance that?
Because I know we're a verydiverse country, a lot of
(24:28):
different meals that are outthere, but how do you balance
some of that between the cultureof be, and again, I'll use my
example of the Ukrainianheritage with meat and potatoes
versus, you know, trying to havethose greens and the oranges on
my plate.
Sue Mah (24:43):
Canada is one of the most multicultural countries in
the world, and it's amazing.
And I love this question becauseyou know, as I become a more
seasoned dietitian, I realizehow important it is to hold onto
our cultural heritage.
And speaking from my ownexperience as a daughter of a
Chinese chef, my dad still goesto the grocery store every
(25:06):
single day to get those freshingredients, fresh fish, fresh
vegetables.
It's so great.
There's so much meaning to food.
It goes beyond fuel.
There's joy, there'scelebration, there's symbolism,
there's comfort.
And I think that's reallyimportant.
And so when you mentionedperogies, I just imagined the
(25:29):
warmth, the coziness, the familycelebrations that are associated
with pierogis, right?
So go ahead and enjoy.
And like you mentioned, maybe onthe side there's that green
salad or the sweet potatoes orthat orange veggie or whatever
else needs to be added tosupplement.
But let's hold on to theculture.
And I remember when I wasworking for the government as a
(25:51):
public health nutritionist inBrampton.
So Peel Region is anotherdiverse multicultural community.
We actually created a communitycookbook called Celebrate a
World of Healthy Eating.
So we reached out to about 15community agencies and they
submitted their cultural recipesand we put it together in a
(26:13):
cookbook.
And this was like 15, 20, maybemore than 20 years ago.
So even then as a younger, morejunior dietitian, I realized the
value of holding onto culture inmy own culture, in the Chinese
culture, so many foods hold somuch symbolism.
So for the Chinese New Year, wealways have lettuce because that
(26:33):
represents prosperity, fish,chicken, and oranges for good
luck, for prosperity, forwealth.
And I was just flipping througha grocery store flyer the other
day and I saw these new productsthat celebrate the different
cultures that we have here inCanada.
So I saw a little frozen pekingduck with pancake wrappers and I
(26:57):
thought, I need to try thatbecause we love peking duck and
maybe I'll run it by my dad tosee if he gives it a thumbs up
or not, right?
And then I saw some Portuguesesalted cod with potatoes and I
have a girlfriend who'sPortuguese, and this is what she
makes on Christmas Day thatsalted cod with potatoes.
And then I saw a little kit forItalian cannolis, jerk chicken.
(27:17):
So I love that we're embracingthe culture and let's be
adventurous and experimental.
Let's step outside of our ownculture and taste the diversity
of the different foods aroundus.
I think it's a real celebrationfor sure.
Clinton Monchuk (27:32):
So it's interesting you mentioned on new
Year's eating these differentfoods.
So my wife's deal down in thesouth was that you ate
black-eyed peas and hog jowl forNew Year's Eve to bring you hope
and prosperity for the nextyear.
And I always said that, ofcourse it can't get any worse
after that.
So it it better bebetter.
(27:54):
So she prepared it the one timefor me and I tried a little bit
of it and I said, Nope, notgonna try it anymore.
So,
Sue Mah (28:00):
Oh, that's funny.
Clinton Monchuk (28:01):
Anyways, you've not only brought some really
good tips to all of ourlisteners out here, but really
expanded a lot of what we can doin our own families, in our own
healthy eating and provided somereally good intel on what we
need to do to have healthierlives.
Thanks again, Sue, for beingpart of the Ask a Farmer
(28:21):
podcast.
Sue Mah (28:22):
It's been an absolute pleasure.
Thanks Clinton.
Clinton Monchuk (28:25):
You can follow Sue on Instagram, which is
@SuemahRd and also on Twitter,TikTok and YouTube.
Sign up for her free enewsletternutritionsolutions.ca and read h
er blogs on Canadianfoodfocus.
org.
(28:48):
I w ant t o thank you for takingthe time to listen to our A sk A
f armer podcast.
We at Canadian Food F ocus valuethe input from our listeners and
ask that you share this podcastwith your friends and family.
Remember, this is a two-waystreet, so we seek your input
for future segments that a re ofinterest to you about food and f
(29:09):
arming.
To do this, please click on theAsk u s icon at the top of our
website, canadianfoodfocus.
org.
While you're there, feel free tofollow our numerous social media
links and sign u p for ournewsletter.
This segment was produced andedited by Angela Larson,
research and Writing by DorothyLong a nd P enny Eaton.
(29:30):
Music by Andy E lson.
I'm your host Clinton M oncho.
A nd from all of us here atCanadian Food Focus, we wish you
good health a nd great eats.
From Canadian Food Focus, this is Ask A Farmer
.
I'm your host Clinton Monchuk.
A Saskatchewan farmer.
In this podcast, we talk to foodexperts to answer your questions
about your food.
(00:30):
Today we have a very specialguest.
We have Sue Mah with us.
Sue, how are you doing today?
Sue Mah (00:36):
I'm doing great.
So good to see you Clinton.
Clinton Monchuk (00:38):
It's great that you can make it on the show
today.
So Sue, just to give everybody alittle bit of a background into
who you are, do you want to justexplain a little bit of how you
came to be and kind of yourquest right now as a registered
dietitian to inform people abouteating better?
Sue Mah (00:59):
I grew up in a family that values food and health and
wellness.
So my grandfather was the firstmedical acupuncturist in
Toronto, and my dad is atraditional Chinese chef.
So throughout my entire life, weused food not just for
celebration and joy, but alsofor medicine.
And so when I went to school oneday, I was in elementary school
(01:21):
and I was on the track and fieldteam and my dad woke up in the
morning and said, Sue, I'm gonnamake you like some noodles for
breakfast because I heard thatcarbohydrates are good for
energy.
And I thought, what?
Like, I was probably seven oreight.
I thought, what carbohydrates?
What's that?
And so that sparked my interestin sports nutrition.
And I was active through highschool on the track and field
team, cross country, and went touniversity and pursued a degree
(01:44):
in nutrition.
Loved it, and pursued mymaster's degree also in
community nutrition.
Worked in public health for awhile.
Loved it, loved it, loved it.
But one day, Hal Johnson andJoanne McLeod, you probably know
them right, body break.
Clinton Monchuk (01:59):
Mm-hmm.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
I don't think anybody in Canadadoesn't know who that is.
Sue Mah (02:06):
They're like the fitness guru.
They're a couple.
And they called me one day andsaid, Hey Sue, we saw you on tv.
Wondered if you wanna be ourdietitian on our national TV
show Body Break.
Wow.
What an honor.
I knew I didn't really have alot of experience on the media.
I did a few TV interviews, but Iknew this was a great
opportunity.
So I did a season of shows withthem, loved it so much that I
(02:29):
quit my day job with thegovernment and just opened up my
own business as a mediadietitian, working with
agricultural, commodities, foodindustry, health associations,
and government to really bringsensible, credible,
evidence-based nutritioninformation to consumers through
the media, through my blogs,through tv, through social
media.
So here I am today, still goingstrong on national TV about once
(02:51):
a month.
Yeah.
And it's lots of fun.
Just as farmers and dieticians,we have a similarity i n that we
wanna share credible nutrition,passionate information to help
consumers eat well and livewell.
Clinton Monchuk (03:03):
Yeah, I think that gets at the core of what
we're going to be talking abouttoday.
And you've already made mentionof it.
I think there's a lot ofinformation that's out there,
right?
And some of it's worthwhile,some of it's not.
But for those who aren'tfamiliar with either growing
food or what your body actuallyneeds, it can be really
confusing and in an effort tokind of combat some of that, you
(03:26):
wrote an excellent article onCanadianfoodfocus.org talking
about the seven ways that we caneat better every day.
Now, do you wanna explain alittle bit more about that?
Because I think a lot of thelisteners would really value
what you have to say about thatand how they can just eat
healthy and be healthier asindividuals.
Sue Mah (03:44):
Yeah, absolutely.
Thanks for that opportunity.
So you're familiar with theCanada's Food Guide that came
out and it was a very differentCanada's food guide, like no
more food groups.
We all went to school learningabout these four food groups and
the rainbow and the sun.
So that's completely gone.
Instead of food groups, there'sfood groupings.
So we're looking at vegetablesand fruits, whole grains and
(04:06):
proteins, that's food groupings.
There's no serving sizes,there's no recommended number of
servings.
So it's a very different foodguide.
Following the food guide,another report was released and
this report was called Applyingthe Dietary Guidelines as
dietitians and as healthprofessionals, we read that
advice and embedded in thoseguidelines were specific
(04:28):
recommendations on how Canadianscan eat better every day to meet
their nutrient needs.
So that's what inspired theblog, seven Ways to Eat Better
Every Day.
And I'll just run through themreally quickly, what the seven
ways are.
And it's designed to just besimple, easy, right?
So number one, eat a dark greenvegetable every single day.
Now, according to Health Canada,vegetables and fruit make up
(04:50):
less than 25% of the foods thatwe eat.
And it really should be 50%,right?
Like think half the platevegetables and fruit.
Now why dark green vegetableswill they offer folate and iron?
And these are two very importantnutrients needed for red blood
cells.
They carry the oxygen from ourlungs throughout our body.
And if you're pregnant, you needeven more folate through a
(05:12):
supplement.
So I'm going give you a littlequiz.
Clinton put you on the spothere.
Eat a dark green vegetable everyday.
Can you name five differentgreen vegetables?
Clinton Monchuk (05:24):
See, this wasn't part of the, this wasn't
part of the show, so I just hadbroccoli.
Had one before this podcast.
I'll say, can I name thedifferent types of lettuce or
can I only name one?
Sue Mah (05:37):
Oh, you can name the different types.
I'll accept that as an answer.
Clinton Monchuk (05:40):
So romaine lettuce, yes.
Is gonna be one.
Actually, I'll switch it up andI'll say Spinach.
So I got three there.
And I'm trying to think of othergreen things that are in our
fridge.
I'm failing, I'm failingmiserably.
Sue Mah (05:54):
take as much t ime as you want.
Clinton Monchuk (05:58):
I'm drawing blanks here.
Oh, uh, we, we have those, thelittle brains.
Brussel sprouts,
Sue Mah (06:05):
Brussels sprouts.
Got it.
Clinton Monchuk (06:07):
Kale,Uh, green beans, peas.
Actually I'm just on a roll now.
Sue Mah (06:11):
There you go.
You're on a roll now.
See, there you go.
More than five.
Awesome.
And so yeah, this is, you know,this is what we want consumers
to think about.
Think green.
So you've named so many greatones.
There's kale, there's greenbeans, fiddleheads, fresh
parsley counts as a greenvegetable.
Okra, Chinese gailan which isChinese broccoli, asparagus,
arugula.
So one green vegetable everysingle day.
(06:35):
Okay, so that's number one.
Tip number one, tip number two,eat an orange vegetable a few
times a week.
And why do we need this?
Well orange vegetables give usbeta keratin, which then convert
into vitamin A in our body.
And we need vitamin A for ourvision, for our skin.
And also to keep a stronghealthy immune system.
(06:56):
Men especially tend to belacking beta keratin.
So it's recommended that men andeven those who are breastfeeding
eat an orange vegetable likemore than a few times a week.
On most days of the week, youshould be eating an orange
veggie.
So I'm gonna quiz you again,five orange veggies.
What do you think?
Clinton Monchuk (07:17):
Okay, let's see.
Okay, so my wife's from thesouth, so sweet potato is number
one.
Carrots.
Sue Mah (07:23):
Yes.
Clinton Monchuk (07:23):
I'll say squash.
You can have orange squash,peppers.
Sue Mah (07:27):
I'll give you a hint.
Halloween.
Clinton Monchuk (07:30):
Oh pumpkin.
Sue Mah (07:32):
Yeah, you got it.
Five.
They're all great orange veggiesthat provide the beta keratin.
Tip number three, enjoy avariety of whole grains.
And so on average less than 30%of the grains we eat are whole
grains.
And we're trying to bump that upa little bit.
So whole grains offer like thebundle of nutrients, right?
We get the nutrients from allthree parts of the grain, the
(07:54):
bran, the germ, and theendosperm.
Ready for the next quiz.
Five examples of whole grains.
C linton
Clinton Monchuk (08:02):
I should know this, right?
Like I, I farm wheat, so Ishould, I should know.
Okay, so I'll say whole wheatbread.
Sue Mah (08:09):
Yeah, you got it.
Clinton Monchuk (08:10):
Whole grains, granola,
Sue Mah (08:12):
Uh, what's in the granola?
Clinton Monchuk (08:13):
Okay, oats.
Uh, brown rice.
Sue Mah (08:16):
Brown rice.
Yes.
Clinton Monchuk (08:17):
Whole wheat spaghetti.
Sue Mah (08:19):
Sure, I'll take that whole wheat spaghetti.
Clinton Monchuk (08:21):
I'll take that.
What about pearl barley?
Sue Mah (08:23):
Barley?
I'll take barley too.
So all.
So you've named five wholegrains.
Excellent.
Doing well, Clinton doing well.
Uh, buckwheat, amaranth, vulgarcorn, popcorn, millet, farrow,
cama, those are all other typesof whole grains and you can
really experiment with them.
And whole grains tend to havethat sort of nutty, crunchy,
(08:46):
chewy texture, which is reallynice.
Okay, so let's move on.
Tip number four, enjoy legumes,tofu, nuts or seeds every day
for protein.
And this is a big change fromthe old food guide because the
old food guide would just say,you know, protein foods, meat
and meat alternatives.
Now the recommendation islegumes, tofu, nuts and seeds
every single day.
(09:07):
Now, it doesn't have to be yoursole source of protein, but if
you're having a snack or let'ssay you're having a stir fry, go
ahead and throw some cashews orpeanuts or nuts on top right
beans, throw it into a chili orsoup.
I have a really good recipe forlentil shepherd's pie.
Delicious.
And you know, we grow a lot oflentils here in Canada, so why
not make use of the deliciousfood that we grow right here at
(09:30):
home?
Okay, tip number five, eat foodswith unsaturated fat.
And this is the type of fat thatis healthier for our heart.
So the unsaturated fat would befound in foods like avocado,
fatty fish, salmon, sardines,arctic char, rainbow trout,
nuts, nut butter seeds, seedbutter, tofu oil, like canola
(09:55):
oil, right?
That's another great source forthese healthy unsaturated fats
also.
Clinton Monchuk (10:01):
So just a question on that.
Is chicken considered anunsaturated fat then as well?
Sue Mah (10:06):
It's a good question.
So many meats have a combinationof saturated and unsaturated
fat.
So it's not one or the other,but it's more of a blend.
Now, chicken does contain theunsaturated fat, but the skin of
the chicken or the poultry willbe mostly saturated fat.
So what do I do in my household?
I cook with the skin on andthen, you know, I don't eat all
(10:28):
of the skin.
It is tasty of course, but I'llmaybe just, you know, cut half
and just eat a small amount ofthat skin for flavor.
And you know, a little bit ofsaturated fat is okay, but we
want mostly unsaturated fats.
A ll r ight, ready for tipnumber six?
Tip number six.
Get calcium every single day.
At all stages of life.
(10:50):
We need calcium.
And I have a question for you.
Who needs more calcium?
A four y ear o ld child or a 70year o ld male?
Clinton Monchuk (11:03):
I got to disclose right off the bat.
So I came from a dairy farm andI would say we all need it
Sue Mah (11:08):
We all need it.
We sure do.
Clinton Monchuk (11:10):
However, I'm going to say the older person
probably needs more.
And like I still drink quite abit of milk every day, but just
with the aging process, I feelthat our bodies would kind of
use up more calcium every daythan a young child.
But tell me if I'm right orwrong.
Sue Mah (11:29):
You're right.
Yes, you're right.
And I knew that you had a dairyfarm in your family.
so I figured you'd get t hisquestion right.
But you know, it speaks to thepoint that yes, we do need
calcium at all stages.
You think the growing childneeds calcium to maximize their
bone mass?
Yes, that is true.
But as we get older, we losethat bone mass naturally.
(11:52):
And so the male and the femaleover 70 years old needs more
calcium than that four y ear old child to minimize the bone
loss, the bone mass loss thatnaturally occurs as we age.
And I'm glad that you continueto drink milk.
As you know, milk, yogurt,cheese a re excellent sources of
calcium.
You can also get calcium fromplant-based fortified beverages
(12:14):
like fortified soy beverage orfortified cashew beverage.
W e have to make sure it'sfortified with calcium, though
tofu that's made with calciumcontains calcium.
legumes like those chickpeas,kidney beans, canned f ish,
canned salmon with the bones.
You have to eat the bones to getthe calcium.
And some of those leafy greensalso contain calcium.
(12:35):
So bok choy, broccoli, rapini,arugula can all provide some
calcium.
Last tip, get vitamin D everyday from food and possibly even
supplements.
So vitamin D is made through ourskin when we're exposed to the
sunshine.
But you know, from October toabout march here in Canada,
(12:57):
there just isn't enough sunshineto produce vitamin D.
So we need a supplement in thesewinter months.
Examples of foods with vitaminD, fatty fish, salmon,
excellent, right.
Mushrooms also naturally containsome vitamin D.
Margarine is fortified withvitamin D milk also contains
vitamin D and eggs.
(13:18):
So two large eggs give you about8% of your vitamin D for the
day.
And I wanted to ask you abouteggs.
B ecause I know that you've gotMegg f arms, which is your
Clinton Monchuk (13:28):
Egg farm.
Yeah, Monchuk egg farms.
Sue Mah (13:31):
Monchuk egg farm.
7,000 or 8,000 hens.
Yeah, tell me about that.
Clinton Monchuk (13:37):
It's a new venture that my brother and I
got into.
So we're predominantly a grainfarm in rural Saskatchewan, but
we were part of a new entrantprogram about seven years ago
where we could get into theindustry and we built a brand
new barn and have been producingeggs.
Now this is our sixth or seventhflock now.
So it's a huge learning curvebecause it's, it's one of those
(14:00):
things that we had a little bitof knowledge about, but not a
huge amount of knowledge in.
So you know, we've beenswitching things up, trying to
make sure that when it getsreally, really cold outside, how
to put the vents on and makesure we have fresh air coming
in, but still warm air from ourheaters.
So every day's a littledifferent, but it's super
(14:21):
interesting and it's one ofthose things where I don't think
a lot of people realize how muchtime and effort go into making
sure the birds are comfortable.
Our birds are what they callfree run.
So they move around in the barnand we monitor them three, four
times a day.
If somebody walks through thebarn, it's pretty fun actually.
It's something different.
(14:42):
But as a result of that, I getfarm fresh eggs all the time and
I do eat two eggs every dayalong with my wife as well.
Eats eggs every day.
I'm trying to get my kids to eatmore eggs, but they're still not
there yet.
My daughter, she feels like no,she doesn't need to.
My, my son's there periodically,but, and actually I need to ask
(15:04):
you this question.
So we eat eggs every day, butyou indicated that it's only
roughly 8% of the vitamin D.
So then if I drink a glass ofmilk and a couple eggs, I'm
still not getting my fair shareof vitamin D, am I?
Sue Mah (15:18):
You're falling just a little bit short with two eggs
and a glass of milk, right?
So it's totally okay to take avitamin D supplement to
supplement what you're gettingfrom food.
Absolutely.
And it's hard I think for manyCanadians to get enough vitamin
D.
I have a little fun idea foryour kids if you're interested
in getting them to have a bitmore eggs.
(15:39):
This was a recipe that I cookedup for my daughter when she was
young.
So you make a sunny side up egg,right?
So you've got that beautiful eggyolk in the middle and then you
get some whole grain breadtoasted up slice that toast into
thin strips and then arrangethose thin strips of toast
around the egg yolks.
(15:59):
You're almost making like a sun.
So the sun is in the middle, thepieces of toast become the rays
of the sun.
And then you serve that on aplatter with whatever else she
likes.
But it might just be a fun way,you know, have a sunshine egg
today for breakfast or dinner orlunch.
It might be a fun way for herand your son to get exposed to
that.
Clinton Monchuk (16:17):
I've become a little bit creative in what I'm
doing, so I do cover a piece oftoast right in egg and then fry
it up as french toast.
And she loves that, right?
So you fry it up that way andshe doesn't care.
I might try that like thesunshine she might be into
something like that.
I'll see, I'll see if I cantrick her with something l ike
that i n t he week to come.
Sue Mah (16:39):
Well my daughter also loved french toast, so great way
to get that egg in.
Clinton Monchuk (16:44):
Well that's awesome.
So you gave us a lot of ideas onhow to eat healthier and I think
some of them are just kind ofsimple little tips that we can
take throughout the day.
And we have been talking alittle bit about our kids,
there's a lot of activelifestyles, uh, that are out
there and how can we make itwhere we can balance the
convenience factor with thehealth factor?
(17:07):
Like we try to do it sometimes,but what are some good hints on
trying to keep that balanceright between healthy eating and
making sure those kids can, youknow, get out to the baseball
diamond or the hockey arena intime and still have enough juice
to last to the end of the thirdperiod?
Sue Mah (17:24):
Such a great question.
And you know, as a mom of twoactive kids, myself, I totally,
totally get it.
So I guess my first message isthat it's okay to use
convenience foods.
You know, sometimes I talk tosome of the moms at the hockey
rink or the baseball diamond andthey're like, oh, you know, we
had to do takeout or getconvenience.
You know what, it's okay, it'sbetter to have some nutrition
(17:46):
than no nutrition.
Let's remove the guilt factor.
And so my strategy is when youuse convenience foods, what can
you do?
What can you add to it to makeit even better, to make it even
more nutritious?
Okay, so for example, box ofmacaroni and cheese, it's
probably in every household,right?
Kids love it takes less thaneight minutes to cook.
(18:09):
What can we do to make thatbetter?
Well, you can throw in someleftover chicken, some leftover
beans, some leftover protein,and guess what?
Now you've got protein, you'vegot some carbohydrate.
What else can you do to make itbetter?
Can you throw in somevegetables, maybe some leftover
broccoli, zucchini green beans?
Can you serve it with a sidesalad?
(18:29):
Can you serve it with a smallwhole wheat bun?
What can we do to make thatconvenience food that we rely
on?
Cuz we're crunched for time.
What can we do to make itbetter?
So that's another example.
Frozen meatballs.
We have frozen meatballs in thehouse.
You just throw'em in the toasteroven, 20 minutes while that's
cooking up, I'm making the wholewheat pasta some sauce with red
(18:50):
peppers, mushrooms.
So it's totally okay to rely onconvenience foods.
Think of how you can take it tothe next level.
What can you do to make itbetter and more nutritious?
So that's my first tip.
My second tip is to meal plan.
When you know you've got a busyweek, you need to plan for it.
So plan your meals for the next2, 3, 4 days for the whole week
(19:13):
if you can.
But that's kind of tricky.
So plan your meals for the nexttwo or three days.
Look in your pantry, look inyour fridge, look in your
freezer, see what foods youalready have.
Check the store flyers, checkthose grocery apps to see what's
on sale.
And then pick out your recipes,right?
Get the kids involved, gothrough magazines, go online,
(19:34):
social media, internet,whatever.
Pick the recipes that you want.
Make your grocery list.
Then go to the store and pick upthe ingredients that you need.
So that's your plan.
Once you have the groceries thatyou need, then you do the meal
prep.
Okay, in meal prep, there'sactually four different types of
meal prep and I'm gonna walk youthrough each of them.
The first type of meal prep iscalled no cook meal prep.
(19:56):
I love this.
Clinton Monchuk (19:57):
I like that.
Yeah, no cook
Sue Mah (20:00):
No cooking whatsoever.
You know, the whole idea withmeal prep is just to sort of do
steps to save you time later on.
So the first type of meal prep,no cook meal prep, no cooking,
all you do is you prepare someingredients ahead of time.
You chop up the carrots, youdice the onions, you slice the
meat, you make your marinade,you chop the tofu.
(20:21):
That is going to give you a bighead start on that busy night
when you've gotta get food onthe table and the kids out the
door.
The second type of meal prep issingle ingredient batch prep.
So you take one or twoingredients and you make a big
pot of it.
So a big pot of brown rice, abig pot of pasta, and you plan
to use it different waysthroughout the week.
(20:43):
Or you roast a whole chicken,you know, you have it for dinner
one night, you use the leftoversfor a sandwich the next day, or
a salad.
So that's number two.
The third type of meal prep isbuffet style meal prep.
And here, like think about goingto a buffet, you know, it's so
good because there's so manydifferent choices.
See, you wanna sort of replicatethat idea at home.
(21:05):
So my recommendation is to batchcook one or two different types
of grains, maybe one or twotypes of proteins, two veggies
ahead of time, and then youstore them separately.
So let's say you make a bigbatch of pasta and brown rice,
those are your grains.
And then you want one or twoproteins.
So you might wanna fry up someground beef ahead of time with
(21:27):
the onions and the sauce.
And then your other proteinmight be some baked salmon.
And then you want at least twoveggies.
So you could steam some broccoliahead of time, or maybe you
could boil some frozen corn,something simple.
So then they're all ready to goindividually and
compartmentalize.
And basically you just assembleit to make your meal.
So, oh, I'm gonna have a bit ofthe rice, I'm gonna throw some
(21:49):
broccoli in.
I'll have a bit of that groundbeef, mix it up, add another
sauce, add the broccoli corneasy, right?
So that's the third type of mealprep.
The last type of meal prep isthe full meal prep where you
cook everything from start tofinish and then you freeze it
for when you need it.
So lasagnas, soups, casserole.
So don't think that you have todo the entire meal at once.
(22:11):
Play around and see which styleor strategy of meal prep works
for you.
Clinton Monchuk (22:16):
The idea of the buffet, that's the leftovers day
in our family, where it's checkout the fridge.
I'm not making anything tonightfor supper.
There's a lot of good things inthere.
Have your pick.
Sue Mah (22:28):
Absolutely just mix and match and everyone can have a
slightly different meal.
It's actually kind of fun.
Just pick and choose what youwant and you really customize
your meal.
Clinton Monchuk (22:36):
Yes, yes.
So this is a good halfway pointwhere we are going to have the
fun farm fact.
Today's fun farm fact is, didyou know that 98% of all
Canadian farms are family owned?
Sue Mah (22:57):
Wow,
Clinton Monchuk (22:59):
I think you already knew
Sue Mah (23:00):
That.
I kind of already knew it, but Iwanted to sound surprised.
Wow, it's incredible.
And the passion of the farmersand o h, what a joy it must be
to receive the farm from yourfamily, your grandfather and
your parents, and then maybepass that down, you know,
preserve the land, make the soileven better for the next
(23:21):
generations to come.
Clinton Monchuk (23:23):
That kind of gets into some of the
progression of farms andfamilies over the years.
You can see that there's a lotof pride that goes into, you
know, what we're doing on ourown land and how we're trying to
make it better.
Not only for, so I farm with mybrother right now, but for his
daughters one day, or my son ordaughter one day if they decide
(23:43):
to take over the farm.
So it's, it's trying to makesure that we're doing that
right, making sure it's viableinto the future and using the
different technologies that arethere.
So you mentioned already thatyour father was a chef, right?
And cooking Asian cuisine.
So I grew up in a Ukrainianhousehold.
The last name Monchuk isUkrainian.
Actually, I found out that wewere from the Lviv area of the
(24:07):
Ukraine a little while ago now.
I grew up as meat and potatoes,sausages, perogies, beef, mashed
potatoes.
I'm looking back and I, my momclaims that there were
vegetables on the table andmaybe I just didn't eat them at
at my time.
But how do you balance that?
Because I know we're a verydiverse country, a lot of
(24:28):
different meals that are outthere, but how do you balance
some of that between the cultureof be, and again, I'll use my
example of the Ukrainianheritage with meat and potatoes
versus, you know, trying to havethose greens and the oranges on
my plate.
Sue Mah (24:43):
Canada is one of the most multicultural countries in
the world, and it's amazing.
And I love this question becauseyou know, as I become a more
seasoned dietitian, I realizehow important it is to hold onto
our cultural heritage.
And speaking from my ownexperience as a daughter of a
Chinese chef, my dad still goesto the grocery store every
(25:06):
single day to get those freshingredients, fresh fish, fresh
vegetables.
It's so great.
There's so much meaning to food.
It goes beyond fuel.
There's joy, there'scelebration, there's symbolism,
there's comfort.
And I think that's reallyimportant.
And so when you mentionedperogies, I just imagined the
(25:29):
warmth, the coziness, the familycelebrations that are associated
with pierogis, right?
So go ahead and enjoy.
And like you mentioned, maybe onthe side there's that green
salad or the sweet potatoes orthat orange veggie or whatever
else needs to be added tosupplement.
But let's hold on to theculture.
And I remember when I wasworking for the government as a
(25:51):
public health nutritionist inBrampton.
So Peel Region is anotherdiverse multicultural community.
We actually created a communitycookbook called Celebrate a
World of Healthy Eating.
So we reached out to about 15community agencies and they
submitted their cultural recipesand we put it together in a
(26:13):
cookbook.
And this was like 15, 20, maybemore than 20 years ago.
So even then as a younger, morejunior dietitian, I realized the
value of holding onto culture inmy own culture, in the Chinese
culture, so many foods hold somuch symbolism.
So for the Chinese New Year, wealways have lettuce because that
(26:33):
represents prosperity, fish,chicken, and oranges for good
luck, for prosperity, forwealth.
And I was just flipping througha grocery store flyer the other
day and I saw these new productsthat celebrate the different
cultures that we have here inCanada.
So I saw a little frozen pekingduck with pancake wrappers and I
(26:57):
thought, I need to try thatbecause we love peking duck and
maybe I'll run it by my dad tosee if he gives it a thumbs up
or not, right?
And then I saw some Portuguesesalted cod with potatoes and I
have a girlfriend who'sPortuguese, and this is what she
makes on Christmas Day thatsalted cod with potatoes.
And then I saw a little kit forItalian cannolis, jerk chicken.
(27:17):
So I love that we're embracingthe culture and let's be
adventurous and experimental.
Let's step outside of our ownculture and taste the diversity
of the different foods aroundus.
I think it's a real celebrationfor sure.
Clinton Monchuk (27:32):
So it's interesting you mentioned on new
Year's eating these differentfoods.
So my wife's deal down in thesouth was that you ate
black-eyed peas and hog jowl forNew Year's Eve to bring you hope
and prosperity for the nextyear.
And I always said that, ofcourse it can't get any worse
after that.
So it
(27:54):
So she prepared it the one timefor me and I tried a little bit
of it and I said, Nope, notgonna try it anymore.
So,
Sue Mah (28:00):
Oh, that's funny.
Clinton Monchuk (28:01):
Anyways, you've not only brought some really
good tips to all of ourlisteners out here, but really
expanded a lot of what we can doin our own families, in our own
healthy eating and provided somereally good intel on what we
need to do to have healthierlives.
Thanks again, Sue, for beingpart of the Ask a Farmer
(28:21):
podcast.
Sue Mah (28:22):
It's been an absolute pleasure.
Thanks Clinton.
Clinton Monchuk (28:25):
You can follow Sue on Instagram, which is
@SuemahRd and also on Twitter,TikTok and YouTube.
Sign up for her free enewsletternutritionsolutions.ca and read h
er blogs on Canadianfoodfocus.
org.
(28:48):
I w ant t o thank you for takingthe time to listen to our A sk A
f armer podcast.
We at Canadian Food F ocus valuethe input from our listeners and
ask that you share this podcastwith your friends and family.
Remember, this is a two-waystreet, so we seek your input
for future segments that a re ofinterest to you about food and f
(29:09):
arming.
To do this, please click on theAsk u s icon at the top of our
website, canadianfoodfocus.
org.
While you're there, feel free tofollow our numerous social media
links and sign u p for ournewsletter.
This segment was produced andedited by Angela Larson,
research and Writing by DorothyLong a nd P enny Eaton.
(29:30):
Music by Andy E lson.
I'm your host Clinton M oncho.
A nd from all of us here atCanadian Food Focus, we wish you
good health a nd great eats.
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