The Great Food Revolution
Thursday, March 19, 2009 | 08:54 AM ET
by Jessica Wong, CBCNews.ca
Nearly any type of food-related TV show or movie tends to pique my interest, so I was definitely eager to get an early peek at The Great Food Revolution, a playful yet informative documentary series airing on CBC-TV beginning Thursday night.
The four one-hour episodes look at a variety of themes, starting with a general portrait of how Canada's food culture has drastically changed over the past 30 to 50 years, through mini-stories about, for instance, the wide adoption of sushi, how balsamic vinegar became a pantry staple and the rise of the chef as celebrity.
"The overall goal is a celebration of food and looking at where we’ve been, where we are and where we’re going," Liam O'Rinn, who directed the first instalment and helped write all four, told me recently.
O'Rinn recalled some of the drastic food-world changes he's lived through in the past half-century, including harkening back to growing up in Ireland, when milk was delivered to his home by horse and cart.
"The sound, on a winter’s morning, of the rattling of milk in crates and the clip-clop of the horse was a very evocative sound, but it’s gone," he reminisced.
Another more recent example, he said, is how dinner has transformed from a family meal around a table at a set time in the evening — television off, everyone discussing their day — to something often rushed through without much thought.
"I've seen [the sit-down dinner] erode over the years," he pointed out.
"Now... there's that ad with a woman in her underwear popping something in and out of the microwave and running upstairs with it while she presumably is getting dressed and will continue to eat her meal. I find that astounding."
Subsequent episodes of the documentary series branch out to other themes, such as the locavore movement, how food is developed and marketed, 24 hours in the eating life of cosmopolitan New York, futuristic trends like molecular gastronomy and how science is shaping what we consume.
"I’m hoping at the end of this, people will give a little bit of a thought about what they’re eating, why they’re eating it and where it comes from," O'Rinn said.
The first two episodes of The Great Food Revolution air Thursday on CBC-TV, with the third and fourth following in a week. The series will also appear on Radio-Canada later this month.
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From trends and culture to politics and nutrition, Food Bytes serves up tasty tidbits about food and the issues surrounding it that flavour our everyday lives.
About the writers
Amber Hildebrandt writes for CBCNews.ca in Toronto. Growing up on a farm in Manitoba, she acquired an insatiable appetite, but it was during a stint in Japan that she developed her discerning tastebuds and "foodie" ways.
Andrea Chiu is an associate producer at CBC Radio Digital. Though she loves to eat, cook and discuss food,
don't ask her to bake. It never turns out well. She tweets as @TOfoodie on Twitter and organizes food and wine events in Toronto called FoodieMeet.
Tara Kimura is the consumer life reporter for CBCNews.ca, covering a wide range of issues that range from rising food costs and the growing organic movement, to new trends in the marketplace.
Andree Lau is a CBC web reporter in Calgary. Her journalism career includes seven years as a CBC-TV reporter. Her own blog called "are you gonna eat that?" chronicles her eating adventures (including sampling snake and camel hoof tendon).
Jessica Wong is a CBCNews.ca writer who loves to eat and cook, as well as discuss, read and watch programming about food, sometimes all at once.
Kevin Yarr, CBCNews.ca's writer in Prince Edward Island, wrote about food and beer for national and regional magazines before joining the CBC. He acquired a desire for new tastes on his first trip to Europe, and an appreciation of eating locally and in season when he finally settled down on P.E.I.
Elizabeth Bridge is a writer with the CBC Digital Archives in Toronto. She first ventured into the kitchen as a child to indulge a sweet tooth by baking cookies and making fudge. A student budget compelled her to be a vegetarian (for a while) and instilled in her an ongoing curiosity about food and cooking.
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Comments
Rebecca
Montreal
I stumbled upon this show by accident last night and was immediately drawn in - it was very interesting and informative! I'll definitely tune in next week. Well done, CBC.
Posted March 20, 2009 06:48 AM
Tom
MTL
Intelligent educational and entertaining .I really enjoyed the second hour of the series ! Will certainly stay tuned for part three and four .This is an example why funding to the CBC should be maintained at all times ! High quality programs like these are what we want more of .
Tom
Posted March 20, 2009 08:33 PM
julie Pegg
vancouver
the synopsis of the series led me to believe I was bout to watch a documentary on the social history of food. Where was the coverage of how we have gone from Friday fish, and the Sunday to sushi and salsa? I got Loblaws test kitchens, the locavore lady, adn a guy pushing pizzas...a good show on marketing but not what i thought.
PS Did President's choice fund the programme?
Posted March 22, 2009 06:33 PM
julie Pegg
vancouver
the synopsis of the series led me to believe I was bout to watch a documentary on the social history of food. Where was the coverage of how we have gone from Friday fish, and the Sunday to sushi and salsa? I got Loblaws test kitchens, the locavore lady, adn a guy pushing pizzas...a good show on marketing but not what i thought.
PS Did President's choice fund the programme?
Posted March 22, 2009 06:33 PM