Edmonton rests on Treaty 6 territory, the traditional lands of the Néhiyaw (Cree), Niitsitapi (Blackfoot), Métis, Nakoda (Stoney), Dene, Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), and Anishinaabe (Ojibway/Saulteaux) peoples. This place is not just a backdrop for food—it is a living landscape of knowledge, culture, and memory.

Italian immigrants arrived in Alberta in small numbers as early as the 1890s, often settling in mining towns like Coleman and Blairmore. By the 1920s and again after World War II, larger waves of immigration brought families from Calabria, Abruzzo, Sicily, and Veneto to Edmonton.

In a prairie city known for long winters and vast distances, sustainable dining might seem like a contradiction. Yet Edmonton’s culinary landscape is undergoing a quiet transformation—one where the values of sustainability, cultural integrity, and community resilience are driving new standards in food service.

Edmonton is a city that wears its age quietly. While much of its modern identity has been shaped by oil booms, arts festivals, and growing immigration waves, the story of its food is told in tucked-away diners, enduring bakeries, and family-run restaurants that have outlived trends.

The story of Chinese food in Edmonton begins not in a kitchen, but along the Canadian Pacific Railway. Chinese immigrants were among the earliest non-European labourers to arrive in Alberta in the late 1800s, often facing harsh working conditions and systemic discrimination. After the railway was completed, many were forced to turn to low-margin industries, including laundries and food service.

The cast-iron pan sizzles as golden rounds of bannock puff and crackle over an open fire. Around the flames, elders trade stories while children sneak handfuls of wild saskatoon berries from a nearby bowl.

Enjoy this unique seven-day meal plan using ingredients found in Alberta.

Sustainability starts at home. Find menus here made entirely by ingredients found in each Canadian province.

Enjoy this seven-day meal plan using only ingredients produced in British Columbia.

The Arctic is alive with sound: the wind across the tundra, the cry of migrating birds, and the resonant voice of Inuit throat singing, or Katajjaq. For generations, Inuit women have engaged in this practice, exchanging breath and sound in a playful yet demanding competition.