Food Studies at the University of Toronto Scarborough

You won’t just study food in our minor program, you’ll cook, explore and experience it in Scarborough,  one of Canada’s most diverse and renowned food hotspots. You’ll investigate the ways food shapes us in courses that emphasize hands-on learning — our curriculum is built to give you frequent chances to work with the foods you’re learning about, largely in the state-of-the-art Culinaria Test Kitchen. This experiential learning lab is complete with convection ovens, an industrial fridge and freezer, and a range of cooking tools and equipment, along with several cameras and TVs that film, project and record food demonstrations.  

We take full advantage of our position in Scarborough, an area frequently awarded for its multicultural and dynamic food scene. We make the east end our classroom, and explore the rich traditions and challenges of food in diasporic communities. You’ll study food across a range of academic fields, including anthropology, ecology, gender studies, geography, history, nutrition, and sociology. We also focus on the actualities of food — how it tastes, smells, decomposes and changes through preservation and cooking. Courses span all of human history, from our foraging ancestors to the modern industrial food system, and cross the entire world to examine diverse cultural traditions of farming, cooking and eating.  

Department
Historical and Cultural Studies
Degree offered
Honours Bachelor of Arts
Program options
Minor
Enriched learning
Sample courses
  • Foods That Changed the World
  • Social Geographies of Street Food
  • Food and Media
Admissions
Social Sciences & Humanities
Department
Historical and Cultural Studies
Degree offered
Honours Bachelor of Arts
Program Options
Minor
Combined degree options
Enriched Learning
Sample courses
  • Foods That Changed the World
  • Social Geographies of Street Food
  • Food and Media