Tell me about a food that makes you think of your grandparents

Cards for Humanity: Finding connection through food and memory.

An act of care by Augusta Lutynski, Shamara Leonard, Mitra Mahmoodi, and Catherine Legros, Emily Carr University students.

After studying and exploring the connections between colonialism, racism, and culture through food this semester, it was time to find our own way to change the narrative through food.

“Food is a necessity, a communication tool, and a relational object” (Amanda Huynh, Race & Food, Emily Carr University)

Based on this premise, we designed an experience that leverages the space that food offers and aims to create meaningful conversations around food, identity, and heritage. Too often, the lack of mindfulness in the very act of eating (done alone or alone together, on phones) makes it difficult to recognize the rich meaning of the food we eat (what it took to bring it to our plates — geographically, historically, and culturally). There’s a lot to learn from food, if we’re paying attention.

To bring this realization to the forefront and encourage meaningful moments while eating, we created 10 questions around memory and food. They were made to help people learn more about each others’ backgrounds, and about their own connection to food and what they can learn through it. We’ve been leaving them on tables of cafés and restaurants and we wanted to share them with you too.

For you

We’ve made a tutorial for you to make the cards yourself here.
You can submit your own question ideas for the cards in the comments. We’d love to hear them.

Trying it out ourselves

On a sunny Sunday morning, we brought warm coffee and tea, freshly baked vegan cookies, more mandarins than we could ever eat, and sat down in Loafe Café at Emily Carr University. With the North Vancouver mountains and the sleepy sounds of the school café on a weekend as our background.

What was scheduled as a 45-minute meeting, turned into a two-hour chat where we ate two days worth of cookies. We ended up learning about Poland’s turn to democracy and the impact it had on food accessibility and culture. About what it means to get married and move to a new country, with just a notebook of recipes from your home country. About what affects our perceptions of what is healthy, cool, or kid-friendly food. Below are some conversation topics and quotes from our time together.

Recipes teach you more than just how to make something

Teaches you about history and values that come from it (not wasting food because there was a time when they couldn’t), efforts and the rewards of patience. The memory of that reward encourages future hard work.

“I used to help my mother making those dumplings, and making pasta from scratch. So delicious, it was hard work but it was the best pasta I have ever had in my life. And baking bread from scratch, your own bread. This was back when Poland was just starting to be a democracy, it was a time when people were used to making everything themselves because there was nothing in the shops. You need to learn a lot of stuff if you’re going to make things yourself. Your own bread, pasta. For me, I could learn to do very basic things that you’re using all the time, and the quality when it’s homemade is just amazing. I still remember the taste and the smell of the bread just from the oven. So good and it’s always going to be in my mind. And I remember the recipe. But it’s hard work.

“You can make food in 10 minutes because you’re hungry, but sometimes you need to be patient and when you’re patient, it will be worth it. It will be such good memories.”

“I don’t think I’ve learned very many recipes from my family…”

Colonialism through food and culture

Connection to the U.S., therefore to “the world”. What it represented: Progress, freedom, being world class.

“in the 90s when there was a new McDonald’s in the city, a priest would come and bless the McDonald’s before the opening. Being catholic is very important in Poland, it’s an important factor ni you life. I remember just a huge line of people and the priest and mayor.”

The larger meaning of junk food

I was allowed junk food but I think it was because it was finally getting to Poland. Everything was always homemade, until McDonald’s came in.

“And the meaning it holds. It’s like what we were saying about anyone that’s been deprived from it [junk food, or alcohol] as a child, it’s not the taste or the chemical reaction, it’s the meaning: I can have it now so I will.”

“I’m pretty sure my first recipe was Kraft Dinner. Or those really bad oatmeal bags that you just poor hot water in.”

Making and Sharing Food — Consideration, love, self-love, obligation, economics, personality.

“I hate cooking, I still don’t enjoy it, but when I got married and moved here [to Canada], because my sister knew I didn’t know anything about cooking, she wrote down a few recipes for me in a small notebook. They’re the traditional Persian food. I had never cooked any until I got married and moved here, now I make them all the time.”

Traditions and values hidden in food

“There’s no waste. That’s what I remember from when I was cooking with my grandma. She would never waste food. Because there wasn’t much food for everyone. And I learned, while we were making bread, that you need to use everything. The appreciation for food and tradition, and being very patient about making food, that’s what I learned.”

“But still, I keep in mind that my babcia was obsessed with using everything. I don’t recall any garbage at my babcia(my grandma)’s home. She’ll always invent a recipe to reuse the waste. Be mindful and respectful for what you have, when you’ve had nothing.”

“My mom is from Quebec, the stuff she would make would be more like lasagna, or salads, or curry, or stirfrys, but my dad’s cooking was always very Polish (laughs). And he never follows a recipe. Sometimes he’ll just go into the kitchen and start baking, even if it’s not dinner time.”

Looking back through health lenses

“I’m shocked that this is what my mom used to feed us. SideKicks, Mac n cheese and all that stuff. When were we eating just clean food, not covered in butter or salt?”

Thanks for reading, we hope you enjoy the cards and conversations.