What is food? On a basic level, it is sustenance, vital for maintaining life. But it has so many other dimensions. Food is a “total social fact” (Marcel Mauss). And with that comes an array of angles featured in this website.
 
Sustainability is a key theme in food studies now. How can we grow vegetables at home using aquaponics? What is a recipe to make good vegan cheese? Which conservation techniques are useful to can fruits or vegetables? In the end, sustainable choices empower us as citizens and can help transform the food system.
 
Food is also examined from a social angle. How can accessibility be improved? What are the actors that make for a more inclusive food system? The Montreal Food Map research team, coordinating communal resources and effort, is an example of this type of work. Here as well, citizenship built through local initiatives is a driving force of change.
 
Edibility and taste are at the core of our experience of food, so we have raised a few questions about this. Can I eat insects? What taste should have baby formula? How is chocolate to be tasted, evaluated and enjoyed? This fresh take on the daily experience of eating allows for more pleasure and builds a critical outlook on food.
 
Food can become an artistic medium, bringing emotions and beauty. Documentation from a performative dinner and a project of digital literature show that beyond sustenance, food is intermingled with our intimate emotions and history.