Researchers at the University of Winnipeg are collecting data on food production in the province through the Manitoba Food History Project.

A trio of historians has been travelling to various events across the province in a food truck this summer, including the Manitoba Sunflower Festival in Altona last weekend, to interview individuals about their cherished recipes.

"We're inviting Manitobans to share a memorable recipe with us, and while they cook a sample of that on our truck, we interview them about that food and how it fits in with the history of their lives," said Janis Thiessen, lead project researcher and a history professor at the university.

"We always say memorable. It doesn't have to be tasty or fancy, it just has to be meaningful to that person."

Researchers have been using social media to encourage people to set up an interview through their website, and they've also been contacting individuals and businesses directly.

"One of the things we learn through oral history interviews is that everyone's story is unique, that everyone has a story worth telling, and that the story we expect to get is rarely the story we actually get," Thiessen said.

The project has been successful in collecting stories from a diverse demographic, from Mennonite to Filipino, to Indigenous and everything in between.

mfhp vereniki
A student in the University of Winnipeg's "Manitoba Food History" honours history class prepares gloms vereniki. Photo by Kimberley Moore.

A podcast episode, called 1491, on the project's website, explores one chef's own curiosity.

"It's a story of an Indigenous man in Winnipeg who is a chef and who is trying to recover or reimagine what Indigenous food history might look like if it hadn't been interrupted by colonization," Thiessen said.

Since the project began last year, researchers have interviewed a few dozen Manitobans.

"For us the interest is not quantity, because how many you talk to is really irrelevant. The point is the quality of the story. And even more so, the ability to preserve those stories so they are accessible long after this project is finished," she said.

Although the food truck will be in operation for only one or two more summers, she said, the overall project will continue for years to come.

"To be able to learn about the diversity that exists in this province through something like food is something that we really value."