Obituary

Anita Louise Stewart (née Rogers), C.M., B.A., M.A., L.L.D., University of Guelph Food Laureate, Mother and Grandmother passed away peacefully with family by her side at Juravinski Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario on October 29, 2020. Anita is predeceased by her father Cecil Clifton Rogers, mother Anne MacDonald (Glenn) and grand-daughter Maya Anne Stewart of Wakefield, Québec. Mother to Jeff (Jackie) of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Brad (Aleksandra) of Chelsea Québec, Mark (Kaori) of Campbell River B.C., and Paul (Adrianna) of Victoria B.C. Grandmother to Andrew, Ayden, Evan, Zander, Ellyanna, Ren, Milei, Joshua, Naomi, Martin, Nairy, and Sophia. She is survived by the father of her children, Wayne Stewart. Anita was born on July 2, 1947 in Toronto and spent her early years in Milliken, Ontario. Her father “Cliff” passed in 1955, and in 1959 she moved to Mount Forest, with her mother. She completed her B.A. majoring in Child Psychology at Wilfrid Laurier University. Later, she earned a M.A. in Gastronomy from the University of Adelaide, Australia. “She promptly began putting her Child Psychology degree to work” (as she put it), giving birth to 4 boys between the years of 1970 – 1975. Anita exemplified her mantra “Canada is food and the world is richer for it”, by exploring and promoting Canadian food culture, and by amplifying the voices of the Canadian food community. Though her focus was food, her mission and philosophy was to connect the people of this vast, diverse nation with the land and each other while actively promoting the growth and study of our distinctly Canadian food culture. Anita was a long-time culinary journalist, food historian, Canadian food champion, self-described culinary activitist and distruptor. As a founding member of the Elora Co-operative preschool, she helped create “The Juice and Cookies” cookbook, selling 500 copies. Her professional publishing career started with co-authoring The Farmers’ Market Cookbook with Jo Marie Powers. Before “local, regional, seasonal” was in vogue, Anita was visiting country inns, farmer’s markets, lighthouses and First Nations’ communities, while engaging with Canada’s food leaders. She published 14 books and was an early social media pioneer, uniting Canadians digitally from their backyards with the creation of “The World’s Longest BBQ”, supporting Alberta farmers in reaction to the BSE crisis of 2003. This event evolved into Food Day Canada and is celebrated nationally every August. Over the course of Anita’s career, she received the Order of Canada, a long list of awards, and an honourary doctorate. Anita is the University of Guelph’s Food Laureate, making her the first person in the world to hold such a title as an advocate, leader and promoter of food intiatives. The Anita Stewart Alumni Food Lab at the University of Guelph, has been recently named in her honour. Anita’s spirit drove her to great professional heights, and her generosity, kindness, warmth and strength of character will be forever remembered by everyone. The Stewart family would like to thank the Morris’s, Scott Taylor and Carolyn Sharp, Julia Christensen Hughes, Donna McCaw, the Gohn’s, the Whale’s, Brian Schmeler and Stacey Kanelos, the Rigby’s, the Fischer’s, Gwen Swick and Randall Coryell, Deb Reynolds, and many other friends and family. Thank you to the medical teams from Groves Memorial Hospital, Guelph General Hospital, and Juravinski Hospital, Hamilton. In lieu of flowers, donations would be appreciated to the “Anita Stewart Tribute Fund”, at the University of Guelph. http://uofg.convio.net/site/TR?fr_id=2358&pg=entry A visitation was held on Tuesday November 3, 2020 at Graham A. Giddy Funeral Home, 37 Church St. Elora. The family plans to organize a celebration of life in Elora, Ontario as well as a small private memorial at a later date on Vancouver Island, BC. She will be buried alongside her mother at the Mount Forest Cemetery in Mount Forest, Ontario.