In another book, Dr. Shelley Boyd writes about the deeper meaning of food in Canadian culture, this time with a focus on one kitchen staple: Kraft Dinner.
With Nathalie Cooke and Alexia Moyer, she co-authored the new a McGill-Queen鈥檚 University Press collection that explores why food matters in Canadian fiction, drama and poetry.
The 233 pages tell 鈥渜uite different narratives than what you might find in a cookbook or in a tourist guide, where we often hear stories about bounty and the great variety of foods that Canadians have access to,鈥� explains Boyd, a White Rock resident and Faculty of Arts dean at Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU).
鈥淏ut Canadian literature actually sheds light on a far more complicated story.鈥�
In her Kraft Dinner chapter, Boyd writes about the many mentions of the boxed macaroni and cheese product.
鈥淓ven though Canadians boast about their love of Kraft Dinner, and we have songs about it, what we read when we see Kraft Dinner in a poem or a novel or a play is usually signaling something rather complicated, and not always joyful,鈥� Boyd says in a KPU news release. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about something that鈥檚 somehow missing.鈥�
Boyd鈥檚 third book, 鈥淐anadian Literary Fare鈥� follows 2020鈥檚 鈥淐anadian Culinary Imaginations,鈥� a collection of essays, interviews and art by contributors across Canada that spark conversations about food, Canada and cultural identity.
A blog series by Boyd and Cooke inspired the new book. At KPU, Boyd has taught related courses including one leading to her students hosting an exhibition on food and literature in the university library.
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