They’ve called her a “food intellectual” and a “culinary activist”—even the “patron saint of Canadian cuisine”—but Anita Stewart is really just a passionate foodie who’s always been a little ahead of the curve when it comes to appreciating Canada’s unique culinary culture. Here’s what the author, academic and local food lover has to say about Canada’s bounty, past, present and future.

CTC: You are the founder and chair of Cuisine Canada, an organization of food professionals. What inspired you to champion Canadian food?
Anita Stewart: I started writing about the food of Canada officially in 1984, and that was a book on the farmer’s markets of Ontario. Even at that time, it was pretty clear that there were a tremendous amount of really interesting local ingredients in Canada. I wondered if there were any other venues using local ingredients. I started researching the cuisine of small country inns across Canada. At that time, there was a regional kind of Canadian cuisine emerging in very small pockets across the country. My first book tour in 1987 was a huge eye-opener for me, which is part of the reason we created Cuisine Canada, because people doing interesting things in Canada didn’t know each other.

CTC: How has the idea of Canadian cuisine changed in those 25 years?
AS: Back in the 1980s, when I first met people like Sinclair and Frederique Philip at Sooke Harbour House on Vancouver Island, BC, they had an incredible kitchen rooted right in Sooke using incredible local ingredients. But at that time, local food was not always good and chefs didn’t always want to use local ingredients. What we’re finding now is that there is a tremendous amount of really good local food for chefs and consumers to buy. It’s far more accessible. That’s one of the big changes; it’s extraordinary to see how far we’ve come.

CTC: Is Canadian cooking different in different parts of Canada?
AS: By-in-large, the ingredients that are available in a certain region are reflected on the menu, absolutely, and that’s fun. That’s what makes travelling now in Canada so much more interesting. Vancouver, BC, is different from Quebec or Halifax, NS, or Sudbury, ON. There are restaurants now, even in smaller places and rural areas, that are attempting to do regional cuisine, and they’re learning. It’s an evolution, and it’s a good economic driver for restaurants that are doing it.
In some cases, you’ll still find the real food of Canada in home kitchens; it’s not just the restaurant chefs. That’s where you’ll find real Canadian cooking up north, here in northern Ontario, or in any of the more isolated rural areas. It’s in the home kitchens and the fairs and the farmers’ markets—that’s really where it’s at. It’s happening everywhere in the country.

CTC: Who—or what—is the big driver in the business of Canadian cuisine today?
AS: I think what’s happening is that young chefs are making quite a big difference now. They have the physical energy, stamina and passion to be very creative, and the willingness to get out into the countryside and connect with the growers and producers. Also, too, within the countryside itself, there are people who are coming up with new ventures: whether it’s raising a particular breed of animal or a new kind of vegetable. There are all sorts of new connections being made, and it’s these people who are making a difference.

What I’m finding, too, unfortunately, is that across the country we still need a Cuisine Canada. There’s a need to make connections between these passionate people because Canada is a huge country, and we still don’t know each other. That’s what I’m working on.

CTC: You’ve been working with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada on its “Eat Canadian” initiative. What is the Canada brand?
AS: It’s showcasing the exportable ingredients produced here—45% of Canadian domestic food and agriculture production is exported. Canada feeds the world—we truly do—which is part of the reason I’m so adamant about keeping our smaller farmers in business: by growing experimental crops and bringing on new ingredients that we can grow, foods which are then promoted into larger establishments, these small farmers help us to feed the globe.

I organized a “branding” breakfast for the 2010 Winter Games and I brought chefs together to showcase the ingredients of Canada. It was quite a lot of fun, and I’m doing it again in Calgary, AB, for the Stampede this summer.

CTC: What kinds of ingredients will you showcase to the world?
AS: We have the best semolina on earth, and we produce everything from mustard and wild blueberries to great wheat, grains and pulse crops. Two of the lentils developed at the University of Saskatchewan are now the standard for green lentils in the world. Beef, of course; we have the ranges (Alberta, especially) and we’re doing it well, along with pork and seafood and shellfish.
New things are happening: the haskap berries in Saskatoon, SK, and the prairie cherry. How awesome is that? I love it. It’s pretty exciting; it really is the most exciting time to be alive in Canadian food. It’s my goal to make sure that we are known for these things around the world.

CTC: Are there particular foods or ingredients that define Canadian cuisine?
AS: It’s very difficult to say. Icewine (Ontario and British Columbia) was one thing that was put on the table globally, but here at home there are thousands of them. Clearly, it’s not a question that is answerable. I think that’s the beauty. I define Canadian cuisine by possibilities. And quality, of course. “Quality is in our Nature” is a catchphrase, but it’s true. We grow things with regiments that very few countries on earth can claim to use; farmers from other places aren’t scrutinized as severely as our famers are. Our food is clean and edible and very good.

CTC: What would you like to see when it comes to food production in the future?
AS: We do grow a large variety of crops, but what I’d like to see is more variety within those crops. Just as we have many kinds of apples to choose from, I’d love to see that expand when it comes to some of the other ingredients and crops put in front of us. We’ve lost a lot of understanding of that; the way of adding value to food by producing more interesting varieties.

We need to realize that we are growing ingredients, not commodities. That’s the biggest challenge, that’s the hurdle we have to get over in the farming and agricultural communities. They still believe they are in commodity agriculture, but it still is ingredients.

Food is the basis of civilization, that’s what it’s all about.

CTC: Your latest project is a national food day for Canada. How is that progressing?
AS: In 2003 we had the BSE crisis and I called everyone in Canada to the World’s Longest Barbecue to support the Canadian beef farmers. I’m morphing that into not only a barbecue, but a food day for Canada. I’m trying to power it forward so that we actually have a food day in this country. We need a day for food. It’s the foundation of our country, so why not have a special day for it?

CTC: What’s planned this year?
AS: Here in the village of Elora, ON, where I live, I have a number of Ontario food organizations—the beef people, the pork people, the chicken people, some dairy, the fruit and vegetable growers, the Ontario apple board—all set up to come out and feed people on July 31. It’s a chance for farmers to meet face to face with people.

What I’m doing nationally is collecting the restaurants that are doing local food coast to coast. I’m creating a network of these people, and they’re going to be creating a Canadian menu, or a Canadian regional menu, for July 31. That’s going to be Food Day Canada, and we’ll be doing a substantial social media campaign around that.

It’s really whatever they want to do: if you don’t feel like cooking Canadian food in your own backyard on that particular day, you’ll be able to go down to CHARCUT Roast House or FARM or River Café in Calgary, AB, and celebrate food day and toast the nation. That’s the point.

www.foodday.ca

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