Congratulations to Health Canada for releasing the latest food guide —the organization’s first update in 15 years. In doing so, they have recognized the fact that women are distinct members of Canadian society and may actually have different nutritional needs from men. It’s just a shame that it took them about 90 years after women got the vote in Canada to believe that this “women-are-people-too” thing was more than just a fad.

I now wonder how long it will be for the Canada Food Guide to reflect the fact that Canada’s cultural mosaic includes more than Western Europeans. How long before they recognize that the country is comprised of people with East and Central Asian heritage, African heritage, and South and Central American heritage—let alone Canada’s aboriginal peoples?

Each of these peoples brings a diverse cultural and genetic legacy to Canada, and accompanying those legacies are equally diverse dietary practices and nutritional requirements that do not seem to be reflected in the latest Canada Food Guide—which has a few passing references to foods like naan and polenta.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but even the USDA —representatives of the fine homogeneous cultural melting pot—offers a clear acknowledgement of the roles that ancestry and genetics play in dietary requirements, providing information about or links to alternative food pyramids, including Asian, Spanish, and aboriginal.

Perhaps now would be a good time for Health Canada’s advisory boards to open dialogues with groups that represent more than two of Canada’s three founding nations. As a multinational community, we all stand to benefit.