ELORA – Before buying local food and supporting local farmers was a thing, Anita Stewart was lobbying for Canadian cuisine to be recognized – not only around the world, but in this very country – as something unique and delicious and worth celebrating.
“She faced disbelief and criticism,” her son Brad Stewart said in a Zoom interview with two of his three brothers, Jeff and Paul (Mark was not available for the interview).
“She was talking ‘local, regional and seasonal’ in the ‘80s, long before anybody else.
“Those were the days when Canadian cuisine was seen as an oxymoron. That’s why she called herself a food activist.”
The little food activist from Elora has had a big impact on Canadian cuisine ever since she started researching and then writing about it in the early 1980s.
She’s written numerous cookbooks highlighting regional food, completed dozens of public speaking engagements and has several shelves worth of awards and accolades.
She was the brains behind Canada’s Longest Barbecue, an event to encourage Canadians to buy Alberta beef after the mad cow disease scare in 2003.
That event has morphed into Food Day Canada and this year it’s on July 31.
Canadians across the country are encouraged to buy, cook and eat food raised or grown in Canada and post photos to #FoodDayCanada.
Most participants have likely never heard of Anita Stewart and that’s fine with her sons.
“It’s not so much who she was but what she did that matters,” said Paul. “She was really good at bringing people together.”
She brushed elbows with some pretty important people and won admiration and support from almost everyone she met; from farmers to fishers to chefs and academics.
Anita died last October and this is the first Food Day Canada without her.
“She left a big hole in the community and our hearts,” said Jeff. “We’re trying to pick up the pieces. It’s been a hard year.
“But Food Day Canada will be good with so many people helping us celebrate.”
The University of Guelph is building a new food lab and culinary studio, the Anita Stewart Alumni Food Laboratory, with state of the art equipment and audiovisual equipment to broadcast classes and share food expertise with audiences around the world.
“It’s a really nice tribute,” said Jeff. “And she would love that this place will be teaching new Canadian food leaders.”
There is also an event on July 29 at LaFontana in Elora featuring local chefs and local food. Along with the dinner is a silent auction, with funds going towards the Anita Stewart Tribute Fund at the University of Guelph.
“Even though she left us, her drive and vision and passion for Canadian food lives on,” Jeff said.
For more information about Food Day Canada, visit fooddaycanada.ca.
