About Alberta Food Tours
Alberta Food Tours, Inc. operates in Calgary, Banff, Canmore and Edmonton, Alberta. We have two Canadian Signature Experiences, partner with over 85 Alberta businesses and support many regenerative farms and farmers throughout the province.
This is why we say when you eat, engage, and explore with us, you support farmers who create healthy soil and food, you keep our food businesses thriving and you create rewarding jobs for our team. Soil, food, and people — that’s what we are all about.
Meet the Founder
Karen Anderson
President & CEO of Alberta Food Tours, Inc.
Karen Anderson is founder and president of Alberta Food Tours, Inc. Since 2006, she leads our team in Calgary, Banff, Canmore and Edmonton, Alberta.
Anderson is also a food journalist who has written for radio, television, print and new media including CBC Radio, PBS-TV, Apple Magazine, City Palate, Avenue and WestJet magazines. She’s an IPPY and Taste Canada award-winning cookbook author for A Spicy Touch – Family Favourites from Noorbanu Nimji’s Kitchen with her late Indian cooking mentor Noorbanu Nimji and a World Gourmand travel writing award winner for Food Artisans of Alberta.
You can follow her personal and travel adventures at Savour It All and watch her build a new South Indian cookbook at Faces Places and Plates.
Meet the AFT team.
When you spend a day with our team, you are not only connecting with local food experts but also Alberta tourism ambassadors with extensive knowledge of fun things to do.
Callandra brings a wealth of knowledge from over 15 years in tourism and event management in Banff and Canmore. Now living in Cochrane she still loves to lead tours in both Canmore and Calgary.
Nicole’s an avid traveller, photographer, scuba diver & eater. Ask her where the best Xiao Long Bao soup dumplings are in Calgary or anywhere! Our Instagram account looks awesome with her in charge.
Liane is a leading food journalist, working at the Edmonton Journal for over 25 years. She joined Edmonton Food Tours as a leader in 2016 and will lead a sold our tour to Thailand in 2020 for us.
Cindy Lazarenko is an award-winning chef who loves to give the Ukrainian dishes of her heritage a modern spin. She lives in the Highlands neighbourhood of Edmonton and is very active in the community.
Edmonton Food Tours leader, Howard, is a high school teacher, passionate cook, and traveller who loves exploring all things Mediterranean. His favourite countries are Turkey, Italy and Greece.
Simone leads both our Downtown Delights and Strathcona tours in Edmonton. Formerly, a Professional Home Economist she brings great passion for Alberta’s local producers and agriculture.
Elyse hails from Northern England where she trained as a butcher. She loves to teach sausage-making, meat cutting and fine pastry workshops in and around Edmonton. Favourite food? Gin & Tonic!
We are very proud that Karen won the Tourism Calgary White Hatter award for exceptional service – tour leader – in 2017. She leads tours in Kensington and 17 Ave SW and is a great story teller.
Barb is a great traveller, food lover and cook. She’s been to India three times on culinary expeditions but when she’s in Alberta she is thrilled to divide her time between Canmore and Calgary.
Judy trained at La Varenne in Paris and brought her chef skills to Calgary. She’s been a driving force in our culinary scene ever since. Touring the farmers’ market with her is inspirational.
Kerry has a passion for cooking with the freshest ingredients possible. She leads our Calgary Famers’ Market, Savour 17 SW, Inglewood Edibles: Made my Mavericks and Banff Eat the Castle tours.
Lisa is a journalist for media outlets across Canada. She is a heck of a lot of fun too. When not leading our Calgary Food Tours you can find her travelling the globe or camping in Alberta.
Nora hit Europe with a backpack after college and hasn’t stopped travelling since. China, South Africa, Ireland and Spain with her family of six, India on her own for a culinary adventure!
Naoto is an excellent story teller in English and Japanese. He’s an experienced cultural and language interpreter whose passionate about Calgary and loves leading tours in Inglewood and 17 Ave SW.
Mirit animates activities for a tourism company in Banff, leads tours for us in Canmore and hikes, skis and travels as much as possible. Her idea of a honeymoon? Taking the Trans-Siberian Railway!
An ardent food lover originally from Scotland, Tracy now lives in Canmore to feed her passion for the outdoors as well as for great food.