Table of contents

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

I Cultural Exchanges and Cuisines in the Contact Zone
1. 'Fit for the table of the most fastidious epicure': Culinary Colonialism in the Upper Canadian Contact Zone
2. 'The snipe were good and the wine not bad': Enabling Public Life for Privileged Men
3. The Role of Food in Canadian Expressions of Christianity

II Regional Food Identities and Traditions
4. Pine-clad hills and spindrift swirl: The Character, Persistence, and Significance of Rural Newfoundland Foodways
5. Stocking the Root Cellar: Foodscapes in the Peace River Region
6. Rational Meals for the Traditional Family: Nutrition in Quebec School Manuals, 1900-1960

III Foodways and Memories in Ethnic and Racial Communities
7. 'We Didn't Have A Lot of Money, But We Had Food': Ukrainians and Their Depression-Era Food Memories
8. Feeding the Dead: The Ukrainian Food Colossi of the Canadian Prairies
9. Toronto's Multicultured Tongues: Stories of South Asian Cuisines

IV Gendering Food in Cookbooks and Family Spaces
10. More than 'just' Recipes: Mennonite Cookbooks in Mid-twentieth Century North America
11. Gefilte Fish and Roast Duck with Orange Slices: A Treasure for my Daughter and the Creation of a Jewish Cultural Orthodoxy in Postwar Montreal
12. 'Tutti a Tavola!' Feeding the Family in Two Generations of Italian Immigrant Households in Montreal

V Single Food Commodities, Markets, and Cultural Debates
13. John Bull and Sons: The Empire Marketing Board and the Creation of a British Imperial Food System
14. Spreading Controversy: The Story of Margarine in Quebec

VI Protests, Mindful Eating, and the Politics of Food
15. The Politics of Milk: Canadian Housewives Organize in the 1930s
16. 'Less Inefficiency, More Milk': The Politics of Food and the Culture of the English-Canadian University, 1900-1950
17. The Granola High: Eating Differently in the 1960s and 1970s
18. 'Meat Stinks/Eat Beef Dyke!': Coming out as a Vegetarian in the Prairies

VII National Identities and Cultural Spectacles
19. Nationalism on the Menu: Three Banquets on the 1939 Royal Tour
20. Food Acts and Cultural Politics: Women and the Gendered Dialectics of Culinary Pluralism at the International Institute of Toronto, 1950s-1960s

VIII Marketing and Imposing Nutritional Standards
21. Vim, Vigour and Vitality: 'Power' Foods for Kids in Canadian Popular Magazines, 1914-1954
22. Making and Breaking Canada's Food Rules: Science, the State, and the Government of Nutrition, 1942-1949
23. 'A National Priority': Nutrition Canada's Survey and the Disciplining of Aboriginal Bodies, 1964-75

Description

Just as the Canada's rich past resists any singular narrative, there is no such thing as a singular Canadian food tradition. This new book explores Canada's diverse food cultures and the varied relationships that Canadians have had historically with food practices in the context of community, region, nation and beyond. Based on findings from menus, cookbooks, government documents, advertisements, media sources, oral histories, memoirs, and archival collections, Edible Histories offers a veritable feast of original research on Canada's food history and its relationship to culture and politics. This exciting collection explores a wide variety of topics, including urban restaurant culture, ethnic cuisines, and the controversial history of margarine in Canada. It also covers a broad time-span, from early contact between European settlers and First Nations through the end of the twentieth century. Edible Histories intertwines information of Canada's 'foodways' – the practices and traditions associated with food and food preparation – and stories of immigration, politics, gender, economics, science, medicine and religion. Sophisticated, culturally sensitive, and accessible, Edible Histories will appeal to students, historians, and foodies alike.

Reviews

‘Impressive collection of papers… Edible Histories, Cultural Politics provides remarkable, insightful, and eminently readable servings for students, academics, and interested general readers. ’

- Gillian Crowther

‘I can think of no comparable work in any national historiography comprising such a broad range of cutting-edge research in the field of food studies… The editors have done a splendid job. ’

- Jeffrey M. Pilcher