Podcast
Transcript of the Podcast:
Ethan: (00:00-00:14)
Welcome to “Plates of the past” - the show that takes you on a journey through the fascinating world of Canadian Food History.
Ethan: (00:15-00:36)
My name is Ethan Burnside and in this episode, I’ll be discussing the Great Depression in Canada and placing Jessie Read’s Three Meals A Day in the broader social context of that time. I’ll go into further detail about life in the 1930s, the family economy, and techniques used by chefs to maximize the food budget.
Ethan: (00:37-00:54)
So, grab your headphones, settle in, and get ready for an unforgettable story.
Don't forget to hit that subscribe button and follow us on social media to stay updated on our latest episodes. Without further ado, let's dive right in.
Ethan: (00:55-01:28)
Jessie Read was an infamous Canadian chef who’s most known for her series of cookbooks titled Three Meals A Day. Three Meals A Day was first featured in 1934, in Toronto’s Evening Telegram. Jessie Read was born in 1905 and died 35 years later in 1940. Despite passing at 35, Jessie Read’s contributions to the study of Canadian food history are significant as in 2019, she was inducted into the Taste Canada Hall of Fame.
Ethan: (01:29-02:49)
It is important to briefly summarize the Great Depression in Canada and describe how it affected daily life. The Great Depression in Canada came about due to a few reasons. The first, being the extreme drop in Canadian export prices. In Michiel Horn’s analysis of the Great Depression in Canada, he mentioned export prices in 1933 were only 62.6% of what they had been four years prior. Monetarily, from 1929 to 1933, the Canadian Gross National Product fell 42%, and industrial output in the first quarter of 1933, was only 57% of the averages from 1925 to 1929 (Horn, 2-3) . Another reason was the collapse of the New York Stock Market in 1929. While the collapse of the stock market did not occur in Canada, its effects were reverberated all around the world. Unemployment rates were rising, a majority of Canadians were experiencing poverty, and overall quality of life decreased. Therefore, these times were characterized by economic and social pressures.
Ethan: (02:50-03:58)
To fully understand the implications of the Great Depression in Canada, it’s important to understand the family economy. The early stages of the 20th century saw women contribute to the family through domestic service. Women would often subsidize the wages of the husband by taking in borders or completing acts of service for other families. For example, these acts of service included doing laundry, sewing, or cooking. While men were more outwardly affected by the Depression in terms of unemployment or wage cuts, this time saw women criticize welfare benefits and measures. Since men still linked self-worth to paid labour, having a job was essential to be seen as a respectable member of society. Unemployment had a major impact on the family economy because during this time, men were often seen as the primary breadwinner of the house and if they were making no money, the family was making very little to no money.
Ethan: (04:00-04:34)
In the 1934 edition of Three Meals A Day, Jessie Read included a section on effective budgeting. Here, Read mentions how there are three divisions for a meal: the meat, the vegetables, and the desserts. By including a section on budgeting, Jessie Read is attempting to stray women away from the idea that “At the first of the week we live well, but toward the end of the week - it’s just too bad”. By pairing expensive ingredients with cheaper ones, there is an opportunity to eat better overall throughout the week.
Ethan: (04:35-06:01)
During this time, some examples of expensive cuts of beef included: prime rib, fillets, t-bone steaks, porterhouse roasts. Some budget friendly options for beef included: rump roasts, round steaks, briskets, short ribs, and chuck roasts. For pork, the expensive cuts centered around the loin. This included loin roasts, loin chops and just the tenderloin overall; inexpensive forms of pork were sausages. Looking at vegetables, expensive ones included: brussel sprouts, beets, celery, broccoli, and canned vegetables. Inexpensive ones were: parsnips, turnips, carrots, cabbage, squash, potatoes, and onions. While canned vegetables tend to be very inexpensive, Jessie Read included them in the expensive section as it is always cheaper to grow your own vegetables. For desserts, expensive ones included: ice creams, sponge, cakes, whips, and pastries. Inexpensive ones were: cereal desserts (such as tapioca pudding), jellies, and just fresh fruit.
Ethan: (06:03-07:20)
In Jessie Read’s Three Meals A Day, she includes a section on oven canning. Oven canning was a simple and effective way to ensure the quality and longevity of food. In this cookbook, Read includes recipes for canned strawberries, beets, carrots, and tomatoes. To make oven canned strawberries, you would have to: “wash and hull 3 pint boxes of strawberries. Cook them in a syrup of 3 cups sugar to 2 cups water for 7 minutes. Allow to stand in syrup overnight. Pack into hot sterilized jars on which new sterilized rubbers have been adjusted. Fill with syrup to within half inch of the top. Adjust glass and screw top loosely. Process in oven at 275°F. for 25 minutes. Allow to cool in the oven. Complete the seal on removal. Store in a dark, dry, cool place” (Read, 86). Since canned foods stayed fresh for months on end, one living in this time could ensure that you had fresh and tasty ingredients throughout the harsh winter months. In the spring, it was important to plant a new garden so the cycle could repeat.
Ethan: (07:22-08:40)
Since this book is set in the Great Depression, using every penny was crucial. Some techniques used by Jessie Read and other chefs, mothers, etc, included making jams out of extra fruit, using foods for multiple purposes, using every element of the food, stocking up on dry essentials, and by growing your own food. In Read’s Three Meals A Day, she advocated for foods that have multiple purposes. For example, she outlined how Kellogg’s Corn Flakes can be eaten as cereal, but also used as breadcrumbs, or for adding texture to the top of a dish. By growing your own food, you are not only saving money, but the quality of your ingredients likely goes up. Read also mentions the importance of using every element of the crop you harvest. For example, you can make a convincing stock out of vegetable scraps such as carrot tops, potato skins, and onion skins. Another way families were able to stretch the food budget was to have community based funding for food. During the 1930s, an increasing number of food banks, and soup kitchens appeared to help those families in need. Pot Lucks also became common as it was a way for families to get together to share food, and socialize during those bleak times.
Ethan: (08:42-09:05)
So, thank you for tuning in to another episode of “plates of the past”! I hope you found today’s podcast informative and exciting. I look to bring you more interesting content in the near future. Until we meet again, stay curious and keep learning.
Bibliography:
Campbell, Lara A. Respectable Citizens : Gender, Family, and Unemployment in Ontario’s Great Depression. Toronto: University of Toronto Press,, 2020.
Horn, Michiel Great Depression Of The 1930s in Canada. Canadian Historical Association, 2018.
Read, Jessie. Three Meals a Day. New and revised edition. Toronto: The Musson Book Company Ltd., 1934.
Thomas, Derrick. “The Census and the Evolution of Gender Roles in Early 20th Century Canada.” Canadian social trends, no. 89 (2010): 40–46.
Sounds:
- Ocean in your eyes - Aliaksei Yukhnevich
- Ambient Background music - Garnavutka
- Emotional background - Aliaksei Yukhnevich
