Farm or Fight?

Canadians faced a unique dilemma during World War I: should citizens join the army or ramp up farm production to feed ourselves well while expanding food exports to Britain? The question preoccupied the entire country from 1914 until the war ended, but as a new city at the edge of farmland, Verdun took a leading role in determining a response.

I’ll be giving a presentation in the Verdun greenhouses on September 20 about the farm or fight dilemma by examining the experiences of the Glass, Hadley, Luker, Murray, Sullivan and Winsper families. I’ll argue that Verdun’s evolution from a young entity with few people to a booming metropolis that supplied the highest per capita enlistment of any city in the British Empire exemplifies the Canadian experience.

Participation costs $15 and includes some war-time recipes to sample and take home.

This is the first of four heritage food presentations under the auspices of Coopérative de solidarité Abondance Urbain Solidaire (CAUS) to take place at Grand Potager.