Canada's University

NOTE TO USERS This reproduction is the best copy available. ® UMI tS&amaSaaSM&t; u Ottawa I.'Ui5iverat£ canadienne Cmw&tfa university FACULTE DES ETUDES SUPERIEURES l==l FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND ET POSTOCTORALES U Ottawa POSDOCTORAL STUDIES L'Universitfi canadienne Canada's university Stacey Jo-Anne Barker AUTEUR DE LA THESE / AUTHOR OF THESIS Ph.D. (History) GRADE/DEGREE Department of History TAlbljCWSTolTD^^^ Feeding the Hungry Allies: Canadian Food and Agriculture during the Second World War TITRE DE LA THESE / TITLE OF THESIS Jeffrey Keshen WEWUP7(b7RE~Cf^ CO-DIRECTEUR (CO-DIRECTRICE) DE LA THESE / THESIS CO-SUPERVISOR EXAMINATEURS (EXAMINATRICES) DE LA THESE / THESIS EXAMINERS Duncan McDowall Galen Perras Serge Durflinger Vasilis Vourkoutiotis Gary W. Slater Le Doyen de la Faculte des etudes superieures et postdoctorales / Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Feeding the Hungry Allies: Canadian Food and Agriculture during the Second World War by Stacey J. Barker Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree in History Department of History Faculty of Arts University of Ottawa © Stacey J. Barker, Ottawa, Canada, 2008 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-48386-2 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-48386-2 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Canada Table of Contents Abstract iii Acknowledgements v Glossary A - Organizations vi Glossary B - List of Names x Chapter One: Introduction: Feeding the Hungry Allies 1 Chapter Two: A Fertile but Fallow Field: Studying Canadian Food in Wartime 17 Chapter Three: 'One Branch in Which Canada Will Serve Well': Food, Agriculture and the Building of the War Effort, 1937-1941 50 Chapter Four: 'Part of the Price of the Salvation of Human Freedom': Food Consumption and Regulation, 1939-1942 133 Chapter Five: 'Measuring Up to What is Possible': The Rational Patriotism of Canadian Farmers, 1942-1945 217 Chapter Six: 'Let's All Be Good Citizens and Stick to Our Ration Books': Wartime Food Habits, 1943-1945 297 Chapter Seven: Weapon of War, Agent of Peace: Canadian Food and Agriculture in the Postwar World 365 Chapter Eight: Conclusion 435 Appendix - Tables 452 Appendix - Illustrations 460 Bibliography 492 Abstract Feeding the Hungry Allies: Canadian Food and Agriculture during the Second World War Stacey J. Barker Supervisor: University of Ottawa, 2008 Prof. Jeff Keshen Food is a vital component of modern warfare and during the Second World War Canada used its agricultural capacity to help feed the Allied cause. State direction and the application of new regulatory protocols led to increased production and modified food habits. Canada's food exports increased and farm incomes climbed. Nutritional health was maintained, while economic controls enacted by the Wartime Prices and Trade Board (WPTB) kept Canadian food prices from soaring. The nation's military contributions overshadowed this portion of the Canadian war effort, but food production proved to be a major theme throughout the war and into the peace. Still, feeding the hungry allies was not a painless process. This dissertation examines how the main actors within Canada's food system responded to the exigencies of war in relation to the state policies that sought to maximize the amount of food available. Farmers, hampered by a significantly depleted labour force and lower commodity prices, had to adjust to meet war needs. The war fostered the development of the modern farm lobby in Canada, as the Canadian Federation of Agriculture emerged as a strong campaigner for the nation's farm interests. Consumers enjoyed stable prices but reduced supplies, and experienced a variety of consumption restrictions, including rationing. Called upon to uphold the rules set out by the WPTB, they were enjoined to iii re-conceptualize food as a communal 'weapon of war' and thus to tailor their eating habits to fit 'patriotic' standards. The majority accepted these codes of behaviour, but obedience co-existed alongside activities such as panic buying, hoarding, and patronizing the black market. This study argues that while Canadians largely accepted and supported wartime food policies, they were also willing to demonstrate their unhappiness with moves that seemed to favour one set of interests over theirs. For the state, navigating this minefield of contending factions was necessary to ensure that Canada's bigger wartime objectives could be realized. IV Acknowledgements This project could not have been completed without the support of several individuals and organizations. First and foremost, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my advisor, Professor Jeffrey Keshen, for his expertise and tireless assistance. His congenial guidance and unswerving encouragement helped make this an extremely rewarding experience. The faculty, staff, and fellow students at the Department of History provided a collegial and stimulating atmosphere. I would also like to thank Serge Durflinger, Galen Perras, and Vasilis Vourkoutiotis from the University of Ottawa, and Duncan McDowall from Carleton University. It was a privilege for me to have these scholars serve as thesis examiners, and I thank them. I was fortunate to receive a generous amount of financial support over the course of my studies. Three years of research were funded by a CGS Doctoral Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and one year by an Ontario Graduate Scholarship. The University of Ottawa provided additional support through an Excellence Scholarship. I must also single out the staff at the Library and Archives Canada for special praise, for assisting me in so many ways. Research such as this depends upon the 'behind-the-scenes' work that takes place at this institution, and others like it. Further, I must commend the individuals who staff the Interlibrary Loans department at the University of Ottawa Library for tracking down so much of the material that I required in a timely fashion. I must also thank the people closest to me. My parents, Myrna and Neil, and my siblings Robert, Shawn and Angela, provided unstinting encouragement, each spurring me on in their own idiosyncratic manner. My cats, Dewey and Tango, offered invaluable clerical assistance as feline paperweights. They also exhibited the uncanny ability to know just which pile of books or papers to knock over and re-sort, leading to new discoveries. Of course, my deepest and undying thanks go to my 'rock,' Roxanne Thomas, who supported (and at times, suffered through) my endeavours with endless patience and grace. Finally, this thesis is dedicated to all those Canadians who lived, worked, and served during the Second World War, whether on the home front or in the armed forces. This includes my grandparents, to whom I am particularly indebted. It is also dedicated to my brand-new niece, Abigail, whose arrival during the latter stages of my work provided new inspiration and hope for the future. v Glossary A: Organizations AAC (Agricultural Advisory Committee) Established in 1943 as part of the jurisdictional readjustment between the Wartime Prices and Trade Board (WPTB) and the Department of Agriculture. The AAC was made up of provincial representatives and members from the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA). It was intended to serve as a link between the Department of Agriculture and farmers. Herbert H. Hannam served as its first Chair. ACN (Advisory Committee on Nutrition) A consulting body created by the WPTB in 1942, it included prominent nutrition expert Dr. L.B. Pett. Formed as the move to coupon rationing was made, the group's advice was used to determine ration amounts commensurate with maintaining national

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