University of Guelph Honours Food Day Canada
Food Day Canada will take place on July 30, a day for all Canadians to celebrate Canadian cuisine and everyone who helps to get it to the table.
The annual celebration was founded by the late Anita Stewart, who was the University of Guelph’s food laureate, the first such role at a Canadian university. To help promote Canadian cuisine on Food Day Canada, U of G will highlight its contributions to the country’s food story. This year, the University will explore what goes into the nation’s food and how the institution helps ensure support for Canadian producers and communities.
Aiming to create better Canadian ingredients, U of G researchers are currently working on projects ranging from developing plant-based cheeses that mimic those made from dairy to creating a natural orchard compound to prevent post-harvest spoilage in apples.
University researchers also support producers through innovations, partnerships, and studies, including raising awareness of farmers’ mental health and well-being and advocating for new innovative technologies to improve food industry sustainability.
The University also hosts initiatives and leads studies to help feed communities. In the University Centre, those initiatives included an affordably priced produce market that popped up during the last months of the winter semester and a fridge full of donated items intended to alleviate food security concerns for community members. During the week leading up to Canada Food Day, U of G’s Hospitality Services will have a special week-long menu.
About Canada Food Day
During the bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis in 2003, Stewart hosted the World’s Longest Barbecue to support Canadian beef farmers. That event evolved into Food Day Canada, held annually on the Saturday of the civic holiday weekend.
Participants pledge to shop, cook, and dine like a Canadian by using only home-grown ingredients, and share their stories with #FoodDayCanada. The overall goal of the day is “to actively promote the growth and study” of Canada’s food culture.
Stewart, who died in 2020, was a long-time culinary journalist, food historian, and self-described food activist and disruptor. To honour her legacy, U of G created the Anita Stewart Memorial Food Laboratory on campus, where community members can learn about and be inspired by Canadian food.
