How We Ate in the 1970s

By Magpie Group

What were people in Canada eating 50 or even 70 years ago and why? This article is part of a series on Canadian society and food from the 1940s to the 1980s.

The 1970s: Economic and Political Crises to a World of Choice

Although the 1970s dawned on the heels of a mostly inspiring decade, they started out in a less than pleasant way.

First of all, there was a recession. A downturn in the economy meant that Baby Boomers had difficulties finding their first job. There was also trouble on the political front with the October Crisis of 1970. Tanks rolled down the streets of Montreal and Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act after Quebec separatists kidnapped a provincial cabinet minister and a British diplomat.

With all that was going on, it was no wonder all Canadians wanted to do at the end of the day was curl up on a rattan papasan chair, snuggle underneath a pile of blankets, and watch Team Canada beat the Soviets at hockey during the 1972 Canada-USSR Summit Series.

Changing families and a new sense of freedom

In the 1970s, middle class Canadian women went to work in larger numbers that ever before. There were multiple reasons for this. On one hand, feminism meant that women were looking for ways to define themselves beyond the role of mother, and at the same time gain control over their own finances. On the other, the recession meant that both adults had to work for a family to make ends meet.

This resulted in large numbers of “latchkey” kids – children and teens who were coming home to empty houses, fixing themselves a snack, and finding ways to occupy themselves until mom and dad got home from work. It also meant that men were expected to do more child rearing and housekeeping, although the lion’s share was still left to women.

Another major change in our society was that divorce rates continued to rise, which saw overburdened single parents raising their children all on their own, while trying to make ends meet on one income.

But Canadians were also undergoing an incredible metamorphosis. The 1960s challenged old ways of thinking and led to a more liberal view of the world. This gave people the freedom to choose what they wore, ate and how they lived, without feeling they had to conform to specific social expectations. For the first time in history, we could be what we wanted to be.

The ‘70s were a decade of exploration and we tried anything new. Fashions offered everything from mini-skirts and designer jeans to unisex business suits – and home cooking provided just as many choices.

Diversity in the kitchen

Just as “anything goes” in the fashion world, it was similar for the Canadian kitchen.

Food influences came from everywhere: nouvelle cuisine from France, “natural” foods from the back-to-the-land movement, international tastes from travel abroad, and gourmet foods from television cooking shows like the Galloping Gourmet with chef Graham Kerr.

Canadians also developed an interest in Indian food. The Beatles’ 1968 trip to India created an interest in all things Indian among Westerners. In Canada, this coincided with a changing of immigration rules that lead to India becoming the country’s fourth largest source of immigrants. Canada was becoming more multicultural and so were our tastes. This diversity was celebrated through events like Winnipeg’s Folklorama and a barrage of international cookbooks on the market.

The 1970s also influenced a revival of interest in our own culinary heritage as Canadians, the result being many regionally developed cookbooks from coast to coast. The Best of Bridge, for example, was a Calgary-based initiative that is still a hot seller to this day. In 1975, Canadian Living magazine first appeared in supermarkets, quickly gaining a large and loyal following of home cooks across the country.

Microwaves were introduced into Canadian homes and radically changed how we ate. They allowed for quicker meal preparation and reheating of foods. Madame Jehane Benoit, a French trained chef from Quebec who greatly influenced Canadian cuisine, led the way in microwave recipe development and teaching cooks how to use them.

Microwaves were introduced into Canadian homes and radically changed how we ate. They allowed for quicker meal preparation and reheating of foods. Dishwashers also became a standard appliance in many homes, making meal clean up less of a chore.

In the mid-70s, Canada went metric, which presented a completely new hurdle for cooks and the food industry. To help us along, Corning produced their Pyrex measuring cups with both metric and imperial markings, which is the type you likely still use in your kitchen today.

Canadians get healthy

After more than two decades of pre-packaged food, the health food boom hit Canadian kitchens with the promise of a better life through better eating. This encouraged people to make healthier food choices. Seasonal homegrown produce was getting a lot more attention with the rapid growth of farmers’ markets.

Increasingly, as a result of a more consumer-conscious society, Canadians in growing urban centres began to ask questions about how their food was produced, raising concerns about food additives, fertilizers and pesticides. The production of organic food was on the rise, as was vegetarianism. Granola, bean sprouts, yogurt and tofu grew in popularity.

With people spending even more time in front of the TV, inactivity was identified as a health threat in the National Nutrition Survey conducted in the early 1970s. In response, ParticipACTION was established to promote active living. A ParticipACTION initiative called “BodyBreak” with Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod was a regular TV segment that urged Canadians to “Stay fit and have fun.”

As a result of the pounds people were gaining due to more sedentary lifestyles, organizations like WeightWatchers kicked off a new subscription-based weight loss industry.

By the time the 1970s came to a close, we were experiencing more options in terms of diet and lifestyle than Canadians had ever seen before. It would be a fitting way to start the opulent ‘80s, a decade that took consumerism to a whole new level.

References:

Carol Ferguson & Margaret Fraser (1992). A Century of Canadian Home Cooking. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
CBC (2018). Back in Time for Dinner.