Culinary activist and Elora resident Anita Stewart has been appointed to Order of Canada for outstanding achievements in Canadian food and cuisine.
Wellington-Halton Hills MP Michael Chong congratulated Stewart for her appointment, which was announced on Dec. 30 by Governor General David Johnston.  
Stewart was recognized for her significant contribution to Canadian culture, including her promotion of the Canadian food industry and advocacy of locally-produced foods.
“Anita has made an exceptional contribution to food and cuisine in Canada," Chong said. "I am proud that the contributions of a local resident are being recognized through the Order of Canada. It is a momentous honour and achievement."
For over three decades, Stewart has studied and promoted Canadian cuisine. She is a cook, journalist and author of several culinary books, including Anita Stewart’s Canada - The Food, The Recipes, The Stories, which received Cuisine Canada’s Gold Award.  
In the book, she specifically thanks her mother “for teaching by example and never, ever, putting a limit on my dreams.” Several of Mrs. MacDonald’s recipes, as well as her photograph, are included in the book.
The author of a dozen cookbooks was among a number of nominees profiled by Joe Friesen in Saturday’s Globe and Mail.
He said Stewart can’t take the credit for inventing Canadian cuisine but when she started writing about it 30 years ago it was a radical idea.
“Canadian cuisine was an oxymoron. People looked at me like was I was crazy,” the Elora based cookbook author and chef is quoted as saying. “Nobody really thought about it. We were too busy building a nation.”
In June 2011, Stewart received a Doctor of Laws (Honouris causa) from the University of Guelph, and she served as the 2011 Ontario Food Ambassador. She is currently the President of Flavours of Canada.