About

The Manitoba Food History Project is an ongoing oral history project at the University of Winnipeg, funded by SSHRC (2016-2023 and 2026-2031). The two driving questions behind our research are:

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

and

“How has this changed over time?”

Our research places the food history of the keystone province within broader Canadian histories of domesticity and domestic production, immigration and ethnic identity, government regulation, racism and colonialism, labour conditions and business networks, Indigenous agriculture, food security, and industrial capitalism’s transformation of the agri-food system.

The first phase of MFHP (2016-2023) produced 80+ hours of oral history interviews (some recorded on the Manitoba Food History Truck; all archived at the UWinnipeg Oral History Centre), experiential learning courses in food history at UWinnipeg, story maps, soundscapes, public events, a podcast series, and the book mmm…Manitoba.

The second phase of MFHP (2026-2031) will produce four key outputs:

  1. Manitoba Sugar, a peer-reviewed co-authored monograph on the history of sugar in Manitoba (accompanied by a digital ArcGIS map) by Janis Thiessen, Karen Froman, and Leah Kuragano.

  2. A collection of oral histories to be archived at the University of Winnipeg Oral History Centre with transcripts, timed indexes, and summaries;

  3. A second season of Preserves: The Manitoba Food History Podcast, produced by Kent Davies;

  4. A food memoir by Janis Thiessen.

Please explore our website and meet our current team of researchers and collaborators.