Feeding the Hungry Allies

531 Pages·2009·10.48 MB·English

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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
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Feeding the Hungry Allies:
Canadian Food and Agriculture during the Second World War
TITRE DE LA THESE / TITLE OF THESIS
Jeffrey Keshen
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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
1*1
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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