AN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF THE ONTARIO CHEESE INDUSTRY

[Pages:363]AN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF THE ONTARIO CHEESE INDUSTRY

BUILDING `A NATURAL INDUSTRY OF THIS COUNTRY': AN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF THE ONTARIO CHEESE INDUSTRY FROM

THE 1860S TO THE 1930S

By HAYLEY GOODCHILD, B.A. (HONS), M.A.

A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy

McMaster University Copyright by Hayley Goodchild, 2017

McMaster University DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (2017) Hamilton, Ontario (History) TITLE: Building `a natural industry of this country': an environmental history of the Ontario cheese industry from the 1860s to the 1930s AUTHOR: Hayley Goodchild, B.A. HONS (Trent University), M.A. (McMaster University) SUPERVISOR: Associate Professor Michael Egan NUMBER OF PAGES: xi, 351

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Lay Abstract This dissertation examines the origins and development of the factory cheese

industry in rural Ontario between the 1860s and 1930s. I challenge the belief that cheese manufacturing was a "natural industry of this country" whose development was cooperative and inevitable. Instead I argue that the industry was a deliberate project of rural reform encouraged by elite `dairy reformers' who believed cheese factories could sustain the social, economic, and environmental progress of rural society indefinitely. The industry failed to deliver all the reformers promised, even though it became one of the province's most significant export-oriented industries by the early-twentieth century and transformed the environment and rural society in the process. Rural people and the environment behaved in more complicated ways than reformers anticipated, and the changing capitalist economy made the industry's long-term success untenable. This study also contextualizes the twenty-first century resurgence of craft production in Ontario.

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Abstract This dissertation examines the origins and development of the cheese industry in

rural Ontario between the 1860s and 1930s from the perspective of environmental history. Scholars have generally accepted contemporary beliefs that cheese was a "natural industry of this country" and that its growth was cooperative and inevitable. This dissertation tests these claims by comparing the rhetoric and actions of the rural elite and state officials against the human and extra-human work involved in manufacturing cheese for export, a method that has yielded new interpretations about the character and development of the industry.

I build on James Murton's concept of "alternative rural modernity" to argue that rural cheese manufacturing was a project of rural reform encouraged by elite `dairy reformers,' rather than a natural development. Reformers believed cheese factories could support the social, economic and environmental stability of rural society indefinitely. Through cheese, they sought to create a society that was liberal and capitalist, but also cooperative and stable. They also believed that dairying would restore fertility to the region's soils. In practice, however, their results were mixed. Although cheese became one of the province's most significant export-oriented industries, transformed the environment, and deepened liberal values amongst rural people, it failed to deliver the alternative rural modernity reformers had envisioned. I provide two reasons why. First, the reformers' mechanistic vision could not contend with the complexity and unpredictability of the socio-ecological world they sought to control. Second, the industry could not withstand the pressures of the emerging global capitalist food system and,

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ironically, facilitated the rise of `Big Dairy' after the First World War, which hastened the industry's demise. Overall, this dissertation emphasizes the dynamism of rural Ontario, contributes to an environmental history of liberal order in Canada, and contextualizes the resurgence of craft-based rural development in the twenty-first century.

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Acknowledgements First I'd like to thank my committee. Michael Egan accommodated my intellectual

tendency to wander, pause, and double back much sooner than I learned to heed his thoughtful advice. I could not have asked for a more supportive supervisor. I hope this dissertation reflects his boundless enthusiasm for big ideas and his high standard for telling engaging stories that matter here and now. Nancy Bouchier's challenging questions and deep knowledge of the regional history were indispensable, as was Ken Cruikshank's attention to detail and his insistence that this wasn't just environmental and labour history, but business history, too. James Murton's insightful questions and comments as external examiner will strengthen this project in the years to come.

Financial support was critical for completing this thesis. I'm very appreciative of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Wilson Institute for Canadian History, the Sherman Centre for Digital Scholarship, and the Faculty of Graduate Studies at McMaster for their financial support over the years.

A small army of archivists, librarians, support staff, and dairy experts assisted in a variety of ways. At McMaster, Debbie Lobban and Wendy Benedetti helped me navigate the bureaucratic madness of higher education, while the Sherman Centre for Digital Scholarship provided office space and expertise. Dr. Jay Brodeur fielded innumerable questions as I navigated the steep GIS learning curve and assisted with the mapping component of this thesis in many ways. An opportunity to take a cheesemaking course with Dr. Art Hill at the University of Guelph early in my research gave me a deeper appreciation for how quickly cheese goes wrong, even in a modern food lab. Janet

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Hilliker of the Norwich & District Museum and Archives deserves special thanks for being so generous with her time and expertise.

Numerous colleagues at McMaster and beyond provided thoughtful feedback on chapter and article drafts, especially Phill Morgan, Andrew Kloiber, Rachel Gross, Jennifer Thomson, Emily Pawley, Conevery Bolton-Valen?ius, Ben Cohen, Andrew Smith, Kirsten Greer, Matthias Kipping, and two anonymous reviewers for Business History. Chapters 2 and 3 are derived in part from an article published in Business History (2016), available online: .

Then there are friends and family who came along for the ride: Mom, Dad, Claire, Genrys, Baba, the late Jim Armstrong, Deanna Scott, Bryn Bratton Wall, Lena Persico, Aladdin Diakun, Katie Nicholson, Simon Wallace, James Burrows, Andrew Kloiber, Caitlin Craven, Blake McCall, Jessica Foran, Meaghan Ross, Laura Stewart, Chris Shannon, Kathryn McPherson, Alex Diceanu, Karine Wibrin, Mark Gulla, Nick and Jen Longaphy, Ron and Sarah Collier, Kevin Anderson, Catherine Oakleaf, Jennifer Tunnicliffe, Michael Clemens, Mica Jorgensen, and Phillip Morgan. Phill has become one of my greatest inspirations and a superb friend since we began graduate school together in 2009.

And finally: my partner Andrew Loucks navigated the whole damn thing with sensitivity and humour, reason and resilience. He was strong when I couldn't be and it made all the difference.

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