Cooking Up History

wheatpropaganda.jpg

This cookbook represents the disconnect that existed between Canadians and Americans during the period of the First World War. It was created in 1914 by an American company that intended to use the book to advertise its supplement, Vinol. When the First World War began in August 1914, Canada became part of the Allied forces alongside Britain while the United States remained neutral. The content of Good Bread was written from an American perspective and represents wartime conditions in that nation rather than in Canada where it was distributed and read by Canadian consumers. 

The outbreak of the First World War drastically altered the availability of food and, more specifically, access to wheat exports around the world. The two largest wheat exporters prior to the First World War were the United States and the Russian Empire. The latter had its exports cut off by the Ottoman Empire with the closing of the Dardanelles, effectively halting Russian trade through the Mediterranean. This made the United States the largest supplier of wheat for the Allied forces despite the fact that the United States did not join the war until 1917. It was not until that point that the government of American President, Woodrow Wilson, began to implement important policies intended to conserve food at home and help feed several European nations that were starving. The passage of the Food and Fuel Control Act in 1917 gave the Wilson administration sweeping powers over the food industry in the United States. This marked the beginning of Americans really feeling the effects of the war on the domestic food supply. However, the American government did not impose food rationing on the country, instead focusing on encouraging Americans to regulate their food consumption. As such, the American food market, while affected by the war effort, did not face severe effects as a result of the war.   

external-content.duckduckgo.com.jpg

In contrast, the Canadian agricultural and food industries suffered during the First World War. Prior to the outbreak of the conflict, one of Canada’s most important roles within the British Empire was to be a key food source that supplied imperial interests. This role  became even more important during the war as the relative safety of North America ensured that farmers could continuing working without the risk of being attacked. However, farmers faced a lot of strain due to various government policies implemented. Ever-increasing demands for the expansion of farms and crop yields, as well as recruitment efforts targeted at rural areas and eventually conscription, caused the overall output of Canadian farms to stagnate or even decline despite farmers' efforts to try and meet demand. Across the country, pantries and dinner tables felt the effects of the war and the government’s policies. Large quantities of food were sent overseas to feed the Allied forces, resulting in food shortages across the country. Following the establishment of the Canada Food Board in 1917, the federal government began to seriously control the food industry in Canada, at one point ordering the majority of the flour mills in Western Canada to send all available flour to the Western Front. Actions such as this, as well as several regulations surrounding the purchase of and hoarding of flour and sugar, greatly affected the availability of food within Canada. As the recipes in Good Bread demonstrate, at the time the United States seemed to have more access to an abundance of foods and ingredients. As such, Good Bread is a useful example of the disparity that existed between Canada and the United States concerning food and the war effort in 1914. 

The library is committed to ensuring that members of our user community with disabilities have equal access to our services and resources and that their dignity and independence is always respected. If you encounter a barrier and/or need an alternate format, please fill out our Library Print and Multimedia Alternate-Format Request Form. Contact us if you’d like to provide feedback: lib.a11y@uoguelph.ca