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.

Franca Iacovetta is professor emerita of history at the University of Toronto, and a past president of the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians. A historian of women/gender, migration, and transnational radicals, she has published eleven books, including Before Official Multiculturalism: Women’s Pluralism in Toronto, 1950s-1970s. Award-winning books include Gatekeepers: Reshaping Immigrant Lives in Cold War Canada and the co-edited Beyond Women’s Words. She lives in Toronto.

Franca Iacovetta's profile page

Valerie J. Korinek is a professor in the Department of History at University of Saskatchewan, and is the author of Roughing It in Suburbia: Reading Chatelaine Magazine in the Fifties and Sixties.

Valerie J. Korinek's profile page

Marlene Epp teaches history and peace and conflict studies at Conrad Grebel University College at the University of Waterloo. She is the author of Women Without Men: Mennonite Refugees of the Second World War and co-editor with Franca Iacoveta and Frances Swyripa of Sisters or Strangers? Immigrant, Ethnic, and Racialized Women in Canadian History.

Marlene Epp's profile page

‘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.’

Labour/Le Travail vol 73:2014

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

Canadian Historical Review, vol 95:01:2014