Janis Thiessen writes Snacks: A Canadian Food History about many notable Canadian snack food companies such as Cheezies, Moir’s Chocolate, and Old Dutch Potato Chips. The history of snacks, and on a broader level, food, is an area of expertise that is typically overlooked. Many studying different subjects within history lack the knowledge that the study of food historically is not only about the substance, but also the means in which it is produced, its environment, and the people that work with it. Thiessen produces a book that thoroughly shows how these well know companies unjustly distribute roles within their businesses amongst male and female employees.
Cheezies, the well know Canadian company, has struggled throughout their many years
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in business, undergoing supply problems, and a fire, forcing them to downsize. Through all of this, the company continues to maintain its “family philosophy, the businesses hours speak to this as they “don’t work on weekends… the plant closes early on Friday afternoons”. These hours display their company’s philosophy as they allow for employees to spend time at home. This family treatment is something that is maintained for all employees, but where this sense of familial care is lacking, is in the company’s role in gender equality. Thiessen uses an analysis produced by Joy Parr, a historian who studies gender, that dissects the differences amongst labour forces in two Ontario towns, to show that “Knitting mill jobs emerged as male occupations in the English midlands, but female ones in Paris, Ontario”. This comparison shows that gender inequalities based on specific positions is not bound to the role, but is specific to the business it is involving. Women employed by Cheezies typically work in packaging while men work on process lines which are “full-time, permanent, well-paid jobs”, in contrast to the females packaging jobs. As discussed above, these gender bound positions are company specific meaning that there is an “ideological bias in favour of the male breadwinner”. Tracey Deutcsh, writer of Memories of Mothers in the Kitchen, produces a piece that supports the very stereotypical view of the male breadwinner. For years there was an idea or assumption held that women belong in the home, conducting house work such as cooking. This assumption is supported by the idea that “the entrance of women into the work force is responsible for the collapse of home cooking”, implying that men do not hold any responsibility outside those in the workforce. This implication is constraining for women when they enter the work force as the breaking of gender norms (such as those assuming that men are the breadwinners and women should remain as stay at home mothers) allow for the jobs that they may obtain to differ in wage and value. Janis Thiessen appropriately proves that women are present in the food industry, but their roles and positions within companies, such as Cheezies, is unequal to those of men in terms of pay, and job hours. The impression left by Theissen’s argument is much greater when supported by the ideas of other scholars, such as Tracey Deutsch, who works to prove a similar idea regarding the inequalities that were and still linger in the food production industry. These historical inequalities do not end within Cheezies.
Many other Canadian food businesses strived during a time where males were seen as the dominant force. Moir’s Chocolate was a business that primarily employed females, yet commonly evoked such negative opinions on being a female for the company. Janis Theissen writes that “parents reportedly warned daughter against leaving school by threatening them”, with having to work at Moir’s. Of all the companies mentioned in Snacks: A Canadian Food History, Moir’s strictly divides its employees based off of gender. Even though “Three of every five women working outside the home in Halifax in 1891 were Moir’s workers”, jobs were still harshly divided amongst men and women with men manufacturing and women packaging. Typically, women worked “on piece rate” meaning they were paid by the number of chocolates dipped, this work was “not considered as skilled as that performed by the male candy workers”, therefore they were paid less, and were bound to these roles, not given the option to work the man’s job. This idea provokes the thought of how these roles were decided, especially since the two tasks that separated the roles of men and women in Moir’s was not based on physical ability or inability. Sharlene Hesse-Biber and Gregg Lee Carter, writers of Working Woman in America, discuss the role and introduction of women in the food industry: “Employers soon determined that women were actually preferable to men as employees, as they were less expensive and more “obedient””. Relating back to the roles at Moir’s, women were never seen as able to perform a task, they were simply placed in the simpler and less demanding job based on assumptions of their ability and skill. This relates to the introduction to women in the food industry. Women were hired in this field because they are cheaper workers, the male employer was never able to see that the women may have simply been better at performing the job than her equal male
counterpart. The emotions felt by women pertaining to their positions within these businesses are dismissed if men share the same feelings. This is explicitly present within Old Dutch Potato Chips, a classic chip brand that is still available on Canadian shelves today. Their workforce is made up of a female majority, yet males are still seen as the forefront members within the employee community: “A guy wouldn’t last long packing chips. I don’t think that would be an interesting enough for a guy. Plus it’s not a hard job”. This shared message expresses that the emotions expressed are ones that may only possibly be felt by a man, but what could be stopping one of the women in this role from feeling the same way? The idea of the dismissal of feminine emotion was simply not looked at as dismissal because these emotions were not regarded as important by the male superior. All of these companies share the same story in regard to the division of their gendered labours. Women were always present within these industrial food companies, but it is their role that has changed. Women were introduced into the labour force when men came to the realization that women could perform the same tasks that they were executing. For quite some time after this introduction to the work force women were divided and separated from men in terms of the severity of the position (its difficulty) and the wages they were paid. These divisions consisted regardless of male and female ability. A woman could be fully capable of performing the males job, and be refused access to this position. As time approaches present day, these gender bound positions begin to dissipate and women begin to climb the corporate ladder, becoming CEO’s, or even smaller than that working as head chef’s or within production. Today, the glass ceiling remains, but within the business of food, it is slowly dissipating. Janis Theissen writes Snacks: A Canadian Food History, to discuss the ups and downs of Canadian snack businesses as they develop into well-known products nationwide. These companies would be unable to achieve the favoritism they receive over other products without the assistance and growth made by their employees, including women. Theissen effectively shows how women, while majorly involved in these companies, sometimes even making up the majority of the employees, were put second to men even if their abilities were comparable.
Srigley looks at women’s employment in terms of the effects of intersecting factors of race, ethnicity, marital status, gender and class. She argues that: “Anglo-Celtic dominance created both privileges and disadvantages for female workers who had differing access to employment.” Srigley states that: “Canadian feminist historians . . . have paid significantly less attention to race than to gender as an analyti...
Even though her sister’s dress factory is small and the few ladies who work there do not get paid much, all them work hard and respect Estela. Relating to Heidi Schmidt’s article “Small, Foreign, and Female” work conditions are similar for women like Ana. "There are just three things I look for in entry-level hiring," Hossfeld recalls the manager saying. "Small, foreign, and female. You just do that right and everything else takes care of itself." (Schmidt). Women are seen as push overs in the work place and men expect them to be submissive when it comes to being in the workplace. Ana refuses to be a weak worker when she gets a job at Estela’s factory for the summer and makes all the other working women realize that they are beautiful and worth more than what is under their
The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, a work examining the country’s fast food industry (Gale). Schlosser sets off chapter 5: “Why the Fries Taste Good,” in Aberdeen,
At a housekeeping job, Ehrenreich works with Carlie, and Ehrenreich thinks that the bag of hot dog buns that Carlie carries around is something she finds in one of the rooms while cleaning. Ehrenreich later discovers it is, “not trash salvaged from a checkout” (44), but it is Carlie’s lunch for the day. Ehrenreich displays how the reality of low working class can be unimaginable, based on Carlie’s lunch of hot dog buns. Working at The Maids, Ehrenreich often experiences similar situations. Ehrenreich notes, “we grab lunch - Doritos for Rosalie” (80). Rosalie does not have an actual lunch, she could only afford a bag of doritos. What she didn’t eat that day of the Doritos will be her lunch for the next day. Ehrenreich creates sympathy for Rosalie, because she spreads out one small bag of doritos for her lunch for two days. The same day, Ehrenreich encounters young women whose “lunch consists of a “pizza pocket”” (78). The pizza pocket was not an actual pizza, it was dough with some tomato sauce on it. It’s devastating that people who are putting in hard back breaking work do not have enough to eat. Ehrenreich would not consider Doritos or “pizza pocket” as her lunch, but as a snack during a break. Other than food expenses, employees have to think about health
The first young lady Ann Eggley had worked in the mines since the age of 7. The mine in which she worked did not subject her to having to work with naked men and boys. . Everyone wore “trousers”. The men did not “insult” the females. She was also provided a” good supper” however sometimes they did not get enough and there also wouldn’t be enough time to eat or drink. She also, like the other female interviewees worked 12 shifts. Although she worked at mine that was not as bad as Patience Kershaw, she still was overworked as a female.
In the book Fast Food Nation: The Darks Side of the All-American Meal, Eric Schlosser claims that fast food impacts more than our eating habits, it impacts “…our economy, our culture, and our values”(3) . At the heart of Schlosser’s argument is that the entrepreneurial spirit —defined by hard work, innovation, and taking extraordinary risks— has nothing to do with the rise of the fast food empire and all its subsidiaries. In reality, the success of a fast food restaurant is contingent upon obtaining taxpayer money, avoiding government restraints, and indoctrinating its target audience from as young as possible. The resulting affordable, good-tasting, nostalgic, and addictive foods make it difficult to be reasonable about food choices, specifically in a fast food industry chiefly built by greedy executives.
‘Fast Food Nation’ by Eric Schlosser traces the history of fast food industry from old hot dog stands to the billion dollar franchise companies established as America spread its influence of quick, easy and greasy cuisine around the globe. It is a brilliant piece of investigative journalism that looks deep into the industries that have profited from the American agriculture business, while engaging in labor practices that are often shameful.
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Print.
As labeled on the estimated daily calorie needs for adults chart, I am an active man under the group age of 19-30 years old. As per mentioned on the chart I need 3000 calories per day to remain healthy. After looking at Canada’s food guide, I became aware about the recommended number of food guide servings per day for various age groups.
The Wheat Boom in Canada in the late 1890s and early 1900s contributed to the rise of an agrarian economy, where the family formed the basic production unit. Women played an important role in the family by tending to domestic chores and child rearing. At about the same time, the rise of industrial capitalism drew men into the industrial wage-labour market. The women’s contribution to the domestic front enabled men to participate in wage earning opportunities, due to which the MLFPR was notably above 90 percent. The rise of large-scale factory production raised the insatiable demand for cheap labour. Employers began to recruit women as cheap unskilled or semi-skilled labourers in some light industries, such as textiles,
The Canadian Food Guide1 is an important health promotion tool, as long as it is adapted to the sociocultural context in which it is used. This is crucial for the First Nations, which are struggling with health problems related to nutrition and whose traditional eating habits must be taken into account2. Drawing deeply into their values and culture, Atikamekw health services have developed their own Food Guide (AFG) in 1998. For ten years, it was the main tool used by health workers to teach basic principles of healthy eating.
During the Great War and the huge amount of men that were deployed created the need to employ women in hospitals, factories, and offices. When the war ended the women would return home or do more traditional jobs such as teaching or shop work. “Also in the 1920s the number of women working raised by fifty percent.” They usually didn’t work if they were married because they were still sticking to the role of being stay at home moms while the husband worked and took care of the family financially. But among the single women there was a huge increase in employment. “Women were still not getting payed near as equally as men and were expected to quit their jobs if they married or pregnant.” Although women were still not getting payed as equally it was still a huge change for the women's
Rachel Lauden’s essay In Praise of Fast Food presents a fresh point of view by taking a look at the way the poor fed themselves throughout history and comparing it with the reality of today’s fast food industry. The current thinking about fast food is that it is unhealthy and leads to diabetes, heart disease, and obesity, when it is eaten without moderation. The argument Ms. Lauden proposes is that, due to the difficulties in procuring and preparing healthy, sanitary food for the lower classes, fast food is a positive development. She pointed out that as recently as the 1930s, poor children were cooking for themselves in outdoor shanties in extremely unsanitary conditions, and she emphasized the idea that upper classes invented ethnic dishes.
History in the title focuses on Julie Gandionco’s journey to success with Julie’s Bakeshop. What is now referred as the “ Pillars of Bread-making”.
It is, therefore, natural for most companies to think that women cannot be as capable as men in terms of assuming strenuous or challenging positions because women, by default, become less participatory and more vulnerable when they start to have family and children. Apparently, this situation has led to various gender discriminations in the labor market. In conclusion, although the roles of men and women have radically changed over the turn of the century, it is still inevitable to have various gender-related occupational differences because the social and biological roles of women and men do not really change. Society still perceives women as the home makers and men as the earners, and this perception alone defines the differing roles of men and women in the labor market.