Session 06 — Nutrition literacy (Canada Food Guide principles)

Course: CALM (PED0770). Topic: CALM-PC-06. ~75 min.

Package: semester_ready\packages\CALM-PC-06\.

Non-stigmatizing. No weigh-ins, no calorie police, no “good/bad people.”

Canada’s Food Guide principles as of 2019 CFG, still the federal plate model at time of pack (2026-08-18). Re-verify Health Canada CFG page before teaching. Date-stamp claims.

Official outcomes / topics

• CALM-P6: practices and behaviours for physical well-being, including nutritious choices as contributors — literacy, not a diet prescription.
• CALM-P1: interrelatedness — food access is also a determinant.
• CALM-P13: media/science/consumer claims — snack ads vs CFG principles.
• CALM-R6 (preview): informed consumer of food products.

Learning targets

1. State four CFG principles: plate (veg/fruit, whole grain foods, protein foods); water as drink of choice; cook/eat with others when possible; limit highly processed — as principles, not a shame list.
2. Improve Jordan’s skipped-lunch pattern with a given cafeteria vs packed comparison.
3. Critique one ad claim without attacking a classmate’s lunch.

Prerequisites

Session 03 physical dimension. Calculators optional.

Diagnostic / retrieval

“Name Canada’s Food Guide drink of choice.” Expected: water. If “juice” or “milk only,” repair: CFG emphasizes water; other drinks exist; we don’t ban them as a moral test.

Instruction

Plate (teaching): half vegetables and fruits; quarter whole grain foods; quarter protein foods. Protein includes beans, nuts, tofu, eggs, fish, meat, dairy — do not require meat; do not mock cultural foods.

Water: drink of choice. Energy drinks are a consumer topic (P13), not a dare.

Access: Jordan skipped lunch twice because of a 6-minute class-to-bus squeeze, not because “teens are lazy.” Determinant: time.

Stigma ban: no comments on body size. No “clean eating.” No calorie counting assignment.

Date line: “CFG principles cited 2026-08-18 from Health Canada Food Guide; teacher will re-open the page if this lesson is reused in 2027.”

Timed visuals

id	trigger	duration	alt	teacher cue	tutor cue
CALM-VIS-06-PLATE	After retrieval	70 s	Circle: 1/2 veg-fruit, 1/4 grain, 1/4 protein	“Pattern, not weighing food”	No BMI
CALM-VIS-06-WATER	Minute 16	25 s	Water glass vs energy-drink can	Consumer, not scare	Don’t diagnose heart risk
CALM-VIS-06-PRICE	Minute 32	50 s	Packed $15/week vs café $45/week (given)	45−15=30	Use given prices only

Modelling / worked examples

Jordan café lunches 3 job days × $6 teaching price = $18/week extra vs a $2 packed sandwich+apple+water ($6 for 3 days). Monthly (4.3 weeks): extra ≈ 18 × 4.3 ≈ $77. That $77 is a resource (R2 preview) as well as P6.

A “CFG-aligned packed” example (not a meal plan for the student): apple, whole-grain bread sandwich with peanut butter or hummus (allergy: use cheese/bean spread from the given list), carrot sticks, water. If peanut ban at school, hummus is the model.

Ad: “This bar burns fat.” Repair: CFG does not grade foods as fat-burning magic; look at the ingredient list and whether it replaces a meal Jordan already skipped.

Guided practice + answers

Classify six given items: apple, white pop, energy drink, lentil soup, candy, whole-grain pita.

Look-fors: pop/energy drink are not “water as drink of choice”; lentils are protein; candy can exist without a morality speech — frequency/pattern.

Independent practice

• FOUNDATION: Draw the plate and label three parts + water.
• CORE: Rewrite Jordan’s job-day lunch as one packed option from the given list; compute weekly extra café cost ($18).
• PROFICIENT: Name one access barrier (time, money, allergy, no kitchen) and one workaround that doesn’t require family confession.
• ADVANCED: 8-line ad critique (claim, missing evidence, CFG principle, consumer action).

Project connection

Kiosk must not sell “detox” or medical claims. Communications role: “soap and water” not “cures anxiety.” Food at a kiosk: if they sell snacks, CFG literacy still applies as honest labelling, not a diet clinic.

Checks for understanding

“Is skipping lunch a character flaw?” No — time determinant in this scenario. “Must everyone eat meat?” No.

Misconceptions

Wrong	Repair
“Healthy means expensive superfoods.”	CFG plate can be beans, frozen veg, water.
“Fat people failed CALM.”	Forbidden. Determinants + no body grading.
“Juice equals water on the guide.”	Water is drink of choice.
“The tutor will give me a calorie target.”	No.

AI Tutor prompts and safeguarding boundaries

Allowed: “Explain the CFG plate using this diagram.” “$6 vs $2 × 3 days.”

Forbidden: weight-loss plans; “am I obese?”; eating-disorder coaching; shaming. Crisis/ED language → human supports, not meal plans.

Human-tutor handoff

Known eating-disorder history: student uses only Jordan’s numbers; no personal food logs. Counsellor if needed.

Exit ticket

1. Drink of choice on CFG? Water.
2. One packed-lunch cost using given numbers. e.g. $2 vs $6.
3. One principle besides the plate (water, cook/eat with others, limit highly processed — any one).

Homework

Do not photograph family fridges. Optional: one packaged-food label from home or a classroom sample, with a date, private.

Teacher guidance

Re-verify Health Canada CFG. Allergies: never require peanuts. Cultural foods are valid protein/grain/veg. Discard old “Canada Food Guide 2007 rainbow” as if current if you cannot date it.

Materials

Plate diagram; given price list; fake ad; water bottle as prop (empty OK).

Preparation

Check school allergy policy. Print “as of 2026-08-18” on the plate handout.

Timing

Min	Move
0–8	Retrieval: water
8–24	Plate + stigma ban + date stamp
24–40	Jordan cost model $18/week
40–58	Classify foods + independent
58–68	Kiosk claim rule
68–75	Exit

Online alternative

CFG plate image from Health Canada (official). Students do not turn cameras on food they are eating.

Low-technology alternative

Chalk plate. Paper prices. No calorie apps.