About

The Manitoba Food History Project is an ongoing oral history project at the University of Winnipeg, originally funded by SSHRC. The goal of our project team is to produce a comprehensive history of food manufacturing, production, retailing, and consumption in the province of Manitoba from 1870 to the present day. The two driving questions behind the research are:

“How has food been produced, sold, and consumed in Manitoba?”

and

“How has this changed over time?”

Our research approach is unique. The majority of work in food history draws almost exclusively on written sources; our approach is to use oral history interviews, some of which are already in archives, and some of which we conducted on the Manitoba Food History Truck.

The Food History Truck (owned and operated in partnership with Diversity Foods) travelled throughout Manitoba so that our project team—including food history students and research assistants—could conduct life-story interviews with Manitobans while they cooked local, historical, meaningful recipes aboard the truck. These oral histories help to inform our understanding of the business, labour, ethnic, Indigenous, and local histories within the province of Manitoba.

Throughout our project we are producing a variety of research outcomes that provide opportunities for students, meaningful contributions to scholarly research in food history, and engaging and accessible representations of Manitoba’s food history.  These include a collection of oral histories (archived at the Oral History Centre at the University of Winnipeg), experiential learning courses in business history & food history at the University of Winnipeg, story maps and soundscapes of Manitoba food history, public events, a podcast series on Manitoba food history, and our book mmm…Manitoba.

All outcomes will be documented or made available here, on the Manitoba Food History website.