The Back in Time for Dinner phenomenon started in the United Kingdom. The CBC ran its own version in Canada in 2018. The Canadian version featured a Canadian family with how Canadians ate in each decade from the 1940s through the 1990s.
Host Carlo Rota guided the Campus family: mother Tristan, a registered nurse, father Aaron, a multimedia designer, 18-year-old daughter Valerie, 17-year-old daughter Jessica, and 15-year-old son Robert.
The Canadian version seemed an obvious choice to work its way to the United States, even if that took until late 2021 and early 2022 to arrive on the Cooking Channel.
There are some nuanced differences in Canadian food history versus U.S. food history. Canada has to deal with more significant war rations and for a longer period of time. Canada entered World War II in 1939 while the United States got into the war very late in 1941.
Later in the 1970s, Tristan and Val make yogurt and have to deal with the imperial system (U.S.) and metric since that was the decade Canada switched to metric.
Cooking with kidneys (1940s), salad in a Jell-o mold (1950s), and a cheese ball (1970s) is fun to watch from the standpoint of a modern family temporarily going back in time.
Cooking Channel picks up Back in Time for Dinner
We wrote about the show in great detail for our sibling blog, CanadianCrossing.com.
The food innovations had purpose behind them in terms of politics, the economy, and social trends. You might be surprised to learn about these trends whether you lived them or your parents and grandparents went through these decades.
Balanceoffood.com Canada food policy coverage
BalanceofFood.com television coverage
You can catch up on previous episodes from the Cooking Channel. The 1990s episode airs on Thursday at 10 pm Eastern on the Cooking Channel. Our Canadian friends can watch the episodes via CBC Gem.
photos credit: Back in Time for Dinner/CBC