Improving the quality of the food supply
The information we receive influences our choices, habits, perceptions, and purchases. Véronique Provencher is working to improve the quality of our food supply so we adopt a healthy diet without even trying.
Project architects
Véronique Provencher
Full professor at the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences
Scientific director, Food Quality Observatory, Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods (INAF)
Member:
Teams
Laurélie Trudel, M.Sc., chief coordinator, INAF
Marie-Ève Labonté, RD, PhD, associate professor
Anne-Sophie Morisset, RD, PhD, associate professor
Laure Saulais, PhD, associate professor
Sonia Pomerleau, RD, MSc, research professional
Julie Perron, RD, MSc, research professional
Alicia Corriveau, RD, Master’s candidate (MSc), research professional
Stéphanie Harrison, RD, PhD, research professional
Jeanne Loignon, MSc, research professional
Pierre Gagnon, BSc, statistician, research professional
Plus a number of students
Tracking the food supply quality
Professor Provencher’s research at the Observatory seeks to identify problems with our current food supply to improve the quality of food available to the public. The team is working with over 30 partners to monitor two key policies in Québec: the government’s preventive health policy and the 2018–2025 Bio-food Policy. They’re compiling a list of all the products available in different food categories, along with some related information. More than 5,000 products have been catalogued to monitor nutritional quality and generate accurate, objective, rigorous, and useful knowledge for decision makers.
Profiling the food supply in institutions
Véronique Provencher and her team are concerned with food supply quality and monitoring in all settings. Her research focuses on the food supply in healthcare facilities like CHSLDs and PSRs. The result? The research team will be working with users and government partners to develop a tool to classify and monitor the overall quality of the food supply to meet the needs of Québec institutions. The tool will also provide a detailed overview of the food supply at healthcare facilities across the province.
Pooling knowledge for collective well-being
What’s the common thread running through all of the Observatory’s research? Mobilizing and sharing knowledge as widely as possible. Véronique Provencher’s team seeks to facilitate communication between various food supply stakeholders, including government policymakers, partners in the bio-food industry, and consumers. Sharing knowledge will improve food supply quality and facilitate access to healthy and sustainable food.
The team has analyzed more than 5,000 foods across 15 categories, including breakfast cereal, sliced bread, and sliced processed meat.
The Observatory team is interested in food supply quality in various settings like hospitals, CHSLDs, and PSRs.
Cereals with packaging that appeals to children have more sugar than ones intended for the general public.
The Observatory is driving change to support the practices of the bio-food industry, policymakers, and Quebecers.
What's next
In an ideal world, Dr. Provencher would like the food available to be so good that we choose quality food without even thinking about it. She will continue to work with the Observatory team to develop decision-making tools for consumers and bio-food companies. She wants to share her findings with the food processing industry and grocery store owners to help them improve their products and practices. Her ultimate goal is to make food more approachable using clear, objective information.
Université Laval au cœur de nos vies
Podcast
Learn more about Véronique Provencher’s work to improve our food supply in her interview with Valérie Gaudreau, editor-in-chief of newspaper Le Soleil.
ULaval News article
Learn more about Véronique Provencher’s career and all of the research she and her team are doing to assess, analyze, and categorize the foods we eat to improve industry, government, and public knowledge.