Does the smell of autumn make you yearn to cook again? Replace the bacon with almonds. It’s one of the “changes in eating” that the Nutrition Center has been promoting healthy, sustainable food since last year. And it’s right at the heart of their approach to making Holland eat healthier and more sustainable: in small steps.

This is also reflected in the new Five Wheel that has been in use since 2016. Although meat and dairy were given a smaller role, they remained so. This alarmed a number of nutritionists who prefer to see the green disc completely on Monday Offer an alternative. They portray the Nutrition Center as a conservative stronghold.

A constant beacon in the chaos of blogs and opinions

Is this criticism justified? According to Lobke Faasen, a vegan dietitian and lead author of the vegan tablet, dissatisfaction with the nutrition center is widespread anyway among dietitians. She doesn’t have numbers, but she estimates that nearly half of them think the advisory body is a bit outdated.

The Nutrition Center has also been criticized by the Food Corner, which is said to promote outdated ideas. “Everyone is a nutritionist these days. The Nutrition Center gives general advice to the entire population, so it makes sense that criticism often focuses on this,” says Annette Rodenburg, lecturer in nutrition and health at the HAS University of Applied Sciences in Den Bosch.

In her opinion, we should be happy with an institute like this, which takes a closer look at the current eating habits of the Dutch and tries to influence them in a positive way and is a constant beacon in the mixture of blogs and opinions on nutrition. “I don’t think criticism of the nutrition center is being widely circulated.”

Governor as a nickname

According to the Nutrition Center itself, it’s okay to be called “conservative.” Old article on the site, it is even described as a “strength”. “The governor or the governor called us. In any case, our way of working is very robust and comprehensive.”

It makes sense that the Nutrition Center isn’t immediately lyrical about controversial issues like superfoods or supplements, but shouldn’t it be more radical in terms of sustainability? This is exactly the goal of the nutritionists who launched the attack with the “life tablet” extracted from the plant.

Lecturer Rodenburg says you can achieve more with a gradual approach than with a strict saying: Everyone should start eating vegan. “Since a vegetable tablet is so far removed from the current diet, which includes dairy and meat, it will not help consumers. You can also ask yourself: How sustainable is a diet plus vitamin pills? And how much does it cost for people with a smaller wallet?”

Those who know the nutrition center eat more sustainably

The nutrition center approach appears to have some beneficial effect on people’s sustainable choices, according to a study published last year by the research agency Regioplan. A survey of 1,000 consumers showed that people who know the food center make more sustainable choices when shopping.

The report’s authors said causation is not automatic, but a favorable sign. There were also points of interest, such as making better use of scientific insights into sustainable food. Nutrition Center consumers know more about health and food waste than they do about sustainable food choices. Incidentally, this search predates the Eet Wissel campaign, so it’s not entirely up to date anymore.

Confusion about what is sustainable

What researchers point to as reasons for the limited focus on sustainable food is the fact that the budget at the Nutrition Center for these types of campaigns is out of proportion with other goals, such as health promotion. They also mention confusion about what exactly sustainable food is: this stands in the way of clear communication about it.

Carola Schouten, who is now the caretaker secretary for the Department of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, wrote that the nutrition center should think hard about the latter, mid last year. In a letter to Parliament. It did not mention an additional sustainability budget, but rather an additional budget to test the effectiveness of the campaigns.

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Tablet Five Under Fire: Nutritionists Create a Vegan Alternative

A group of nutritionists opened the attack on the nutrition center. They believe this should make the five wheel more sustainable. They must have designed an alternative.