Agricultural, Food, and Fuel Markets from the Perspective of Social History / Marchés de l’agriculture, de l’alimentation et des combustibles du point de vue de l’histoire sociale

Agricultural, Food, and Fuel Markets from the Perspective of Social History / Marchés de l’agriculture, de l’alimentation et des combustibles du point de vue de l’histoire sociale Jodey Nurse (bio) and Ben Bradley (bio) Agricultural, Food, and Fuel Markets from the Perspective of Social History WHILE HOARDING OF HAND SANITIZER and toilet paper dominated the headlines, shortages of basic food items such as flour, eggs, yeast, and canned beans made the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic a rare moment in the last 75 years. Millions of Canadians suddenly had serious worries about exactly where their daily intake of calories was going to come from. Queuing to enter grocery stores was a dramatic break from established food gathering routines. For some, carefully planning shopping trips (for the purpose of social distancing) was a novel experience. But above all, it was empty and sparsely stocked supermarket shelves that raised questions that were uneasy and unfamiliar to most. Would needed products be available? What could serve as substitutes? Would shortages be prolonged or spread to other products? Was it fair to stock up (within the allowable purchase limits) in order to reduce future trips and avoid possible shortages? Such concerns and breaks from routine exposed vulnerabilities intrinsic to Canada's modern food system, wherein the vast majority of consumers produce very, very little of what they themselves eat.1 The pandemic, ongoing at the time of writing, has severely tested multiple domestic and global food supply chains. In Canada, virus outbreaks caused deaths, labour shortages, and shutdowns at multiple food processing plants. Border closures made it difficult for farmers to hire migrant workers, whose labour is essential for harvesting many crops. Food processors and wholesalers scrambled to reallocate such commodities as fluid milk, potatoes, and high-proof ethanol in response to abrupt changes in demand from grocery stores and food service outlets. Some front-line workers at food retailers, restaurants, and delivery services had their work deemed essential (even superheroic), while others were [End Page 243] laid off when employers cut back or closed down. Even after the initial panic buying and concern about profiteering subsided, food prices have continued to rise, contributing to a sharp increase in inflation.2 These disruptions have emphasized how, despite occasional domestic price spikes for a few foodstuffs such as cauliflower or coffee and news coverage of crises associated with food and cooking fuel shortages elsewhere in the world, most Canadians today are profoundly dependent on and accustomed to an intensely modern and seemingly stable food system that reliably makes a wide variety of fresh, safe food available at relatively predictable prices. Fully stocked supermarkets are a taken-for-granted aspect of everyday life in the age of just-on-time delivery, invisible commodity chains, diverse options of where to shop for food, and seemingly endless choices—at least for those who reside in major cities. Agriculture is a niche interest in a country where the farm population makes up only 2% of the total. As numerous commentators have argued, North Americans are more detached from the complex factors and dynamic systems that influence their food choices than ever before.3 Experts in government, business, and academia will soon be assessing and debating how well Canada's food system responded to the pandemic. They may well conclude that it has proven resilient and durable, given that no widespread or extended shortages afflicted the tens of millions of Canadians who depend on others to grow, process, and deliver the food and fuel that they need to survive.4 If, however, victory is declared for the status quo, important conversations about the nature of Canada's modern food system may end up sidelined. Critics have highlighted problems around the inequitable distribution of foodstuffs across the country; the need for more regenerative practices in agricultural production; inadequate compensation for farmers, labourers, and service workers; consolidation of agri-food industries under giant corporations; and the overproduction (not underproduction) of foodstuffs in the Global North that has led to wasteful practices and disparate outcomes for producers and consumers alike. Since the mid-1980s, new historical scholarship on agriculture and food has been stimulated by the proliferation of...

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