I recently had the opportunity to chat with one of my long time Twitter buddies, Janis Thiessen, Associate Professor of History and Associate Director of the Oral History Center at the University of Winnipeg, about her new book, Snacks: A Canadian Food History.

I’ve never had the chance to taste many of the salty and sweet treats Snacks covers, though we can agree that dill pickle potato chips are delightful. There’s no wonder why they’re Janis’ favorite snack food. Tangy crunchiness aside, I was drawn to Janis’ enthusiastic study, most notably for how it centers the perspectives of labor, producers, and small, independent companies within the more common narrative of the global, corporate, industrialized food system.

My most recent contribution to Nursing Clio captures our conversation about the history of snacks in Canada and what it reveals about both food production and consumption. I hope you’ll read it—and Janis and I would love to hear your thoughts on snacks. 

Top Image Credit: Emily Contois, 2017