In a short, thought-provoking article published in the fall of 2020, Dr. Brigit Ramsingh examined a moment in Canadian history when maple syrup and nationalism intersected and the ideas and promotion of food purity (versus adulteration) were equated with promoting the national spirit of Canada.
The article is titled “Purity & Maple Syrup: Racism, Anti-Racism, and Food Products” and appeared in the Autumn 2020 edition (No. 102) of Communiqué, the journal of the Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science.
Dr. Ramsingh’s article reminds us, that while we may see maple syrup as benign and free from political association today, foods and other iconic images have often been used as symbols of nativist identity and cultural association. We are reminded that in the past, and maybe even today, there may be meaning and power in the images and associations of maple syrup that are not always evident at first glance.