Rob Keeble
Member
- Messages
- 12,633
- Location
- GTA Ontario Canada
I was very impressed when Doge Ram made their superbowl advert and paid tribute to the people who provide our food. I think city folk take so much for granted when they go to the store pick up chicken or beef and veg and don't even pause to think about how it got there.
Well the other night Linda and I accidentally came across this series. We had missed all the episodes so i found it on the web and we watched it via the smart tv web interface which was pretty cool and the first time we have done that. Beats having to go through commercials.
Having a mother who lived through the war in England as quality inspector in a Spitfire parts factory, she never spoke much about the whole food supply issues or hardships they endured except to mention how her feet suffered from not being able to get the right size shoes.
My Dad was Royal Navy and he only ever mentioned food on board the ship.
But this series tells the story i had never even thought about when one learns the history of the second world war and that is the food supply and what went on in the lives of the farmers. Its an excellent series done by the same people that made the series a Victorian Farm.
http://ww3.tvo.org/program/186675/wartime-farm
There is tons to learn that never made the history books, such as the fact that the government actually commissioned artists to go out and paint war time scenes doing their own interpretation of events not always in keeping with what the politics of the day would like but they saw it as a way to keep the artists alive. (no one obviously is buying art in wartime) Artists were also except from military service if they wished simply to preserve the skill. The other thing that comes out is the need to produce flax and how strategically important that was. Also the use of pigeons and how farmers that had what i call homing pigeons were called upon to breed them in even greater numbers. They mention a figure like 16000 pigeons being used in the war especially in the Invasion period.
But the insights to how creative people were in order to survive are incredible. Well worth watching if you like to get a snap shot of what a wartime farm was all about. Hey they even mention the Americans oh and the Canadians better say that before someone takes offense. Even Ben Affleck learnt that.
Well the other night Linda and I accidentally came across this series. We had missed all the episodes so i found it on the web and we watched it via the smart tv web interface which was pretty cool and the first time we have done that. Beats having to go through commercials.
Having a mother who lived through the war in England as quality inspector in a Spitfire parts factory, she never spoke much about the whole food supply issues or hardships they endured except to mention how her feet suffered from not being able to get the right size shoes.
My Dad was Royal Navy and he only ever mentioned food on board the ship.
But this series tells the story i had never even thought about when one learns the history of the second world war and that is the food supply and what went on in the lives of the farmers. Its an excellent series done by the same people that made the series a Victorian Farm.
http://ww3.tvo.org/program/186675/wartime-farm
There is tons to learn that never made the history books, such as the fact that the government actually commissioned artists to go out and paint war time scenes doing their own interpretation of events not always in keeping with what the politics of the day would like but they saw it as a way to keep the artists alive. (no one obviously is buying art in wartime) Artists were also except from military service if they wished simply to preserve the skill. The other thing that comes out is the need to produce flax and how strategically important that was. Also the use of pigeons and how farmers that had what i call homing pigeons were called upon to breed them in even greater numbers. They mention a figure like 16000 pigeons being used in the war especially in the Invasion period.
But the insights to how creative people were in order to survive are incredible. Well worth watching if you like to get a snap shot of what a wartime farm was all about. Hey they even mention the Americans oh and the Canadians better say that before someone takes offense. Even Ben Affleck learnt that.