It was on maternity leave that Anna Demay had the idea of launching Yum, the very first local youth magazine dedicated to food. A tool to introduce children to Quebec culinary culture and “make the tomato as interesting as a triceratops”…
Posted at 8:00 a.m.
But it was little that she had the passion for gastronomy. She owes this gift to her mother, a great cooking enthusiast.
“Let’s say that his pleasure was very contagious,” recalls Anna Demay.
She was only 17 when her mother passed away. Her enthusiasm for cauldrons then turned into an obsession for “the passing on of traditions”, she confides to me before adding that she finally reproduces the bouillabaisse of December 24 to perfection…
“I know it’s a funny dish for Christmas, but my father is French and my mother cooked this to comfort him. »
Anna has yet to recreate her famous lamb, artichoke and lemon dish, though. Soon, she hopes.
When the time came to orient her career, logically, Anna Demay undertook studies in tourism and hotel management, concentrating on catering. She worked in the domain before branching off into the world of wine. At 28, while on her first maternity leave, she embarked on a master’s degree in food history.
(Obviously, she has the creative fourth quarter.)
It was by becoming a mother that she realized that despite her food-oriented career, she lacked important basic notions. She wanted to supervise her child, but did not have all the pieces of the puzzle…
For 20 years, there has been an interest in gastronomy and a democratization of culinary culture, but our relationship with food, agriculture and the supply chain has become impoverished… We can eat poke bowls when you want and 50 years ago, it would have been considered immense gastronomy! But 50 years ago, children knew more about how to grow a potato.
Anna Demay
For the young mother, it became obvious: the little ones must be exposed to food in all its forms. But how to achieve this without asking each parent to begin a return to the land?
Anna found the answer a year and a half ago, when she had just given birth to her second baby: to equip children, we can challenge them with fascinating stories and images. That’s good, Quebec is full of highly talented children’s authors and illustrators… And if we made them pass through the magazine?
His brother, Daniel Demay, believed in the idea. They became business partners. Several renowned artists have also been charmed by the initiative, including Benoît Tardif, Elisabeth Cardin, Mélika Bazin and Julien Castanié.
Together, they are now working on the creation of Yumthe first youth food magazine in Quebec.
The plan is simple: each issue will focus on the same food.
Four issues are planned per year, depending on what is growing at the time of publication. In 2023, children aged 5 to 12 could, for example, learn more about potatoes, chives, strawberries and apples.
Each magazine will include an illustrated story in which the featured food will take on more or less importance. “It could be a great story of friendship that ends with sharing a cone of fries,” says Anna Demay.
There will also be a playful comic strip: “A sweet potato and a baby potato fall in love… I don’t know!” “, ventures the co-founder, laughing.
Several sections will follow, including an accessible historical comic strip, a games page and a technical sheet of the food with a botanical illustration. “We will explain how and where it grows, what the plant looks like, everything interesting to know… I want us to do with the potato what we do with the leopard in the books of animals ! »
There will also be detachable illustrated recipes to promote family cooking. Simple dishes that will make maybe the dinner routine a tad less alienating…
IMAGE PROVIDED BY ANNA DEMAY
The magazine Yum
The annual subscription will cost around fifty dollars, since the team intends to produce a quality object to collect. In the long term, however, she hopes to develop partnerships to offer free special issues in schools and equip the next generation of Quebecers, regardless of family means.
In the meantime, Anna and Daniel Demay are leading a crowdfunding campaign to launch the first year of the project on solid foundations. The co-founders want to raise $20,000 in return for pre-subscriptions to the magazine.
“I think it’s important that the community tells us to continue,” says Anna. Parents write to me that they need a magazine like that! »
I have no difficulty believing it… But one question remains: how to make the potato as interesting as a dinosaur?
“I think it’s showing kids that food is more than eating and being told, ‘Finish your plate if you want dessert.’ You have to tell stories where you talk about everything that is implicit in food: sharing, traditions, self-sacrifice…”
In fact, Anna Demay believes that a dynamic magazine can allow food to carve out a place in the imagination of children.
“I see kids marveling at the specs of an animal in a book and then sharing lots of stats about it…I wish my kid would be that excited seeing a dandelion in the alley. Let him say to me: “Look, mum! Did you know it’s edible? You just have to…”
She pauses, as if suddenly aware of her own overflowing passion.
A jewel bequeathed by her mother that she will in turn be able to pass on to her children. Better yet, to thousands of children.