Making it in Canada

WILTED WATERCRESS SALAD

Canada is a major producer, exporter, and importer of an immense variety of agricultural and food products ranging from processed foods with global value chains to local, farm-based value chains. In this section, I share three of my research insights and assess to what extent my recipe can be made from Canadian agricultural and food products.
For watercress to grow properly, it is essential to have a flowing stream to allow for constant moisture. Once harvested, it must be kept refrigerated until taken to retail.  In Canada, it is most likely to be available at a higher end, specialty grocery stores – as I learned while rying to locate this product in Guelph.


Onions are best grown in late March or April and do not require consistent watering if mulch is used. Producers must allow time for onions to dry before storing them in a root cellar and shipping them off to grocery stores. Almost every continent grows onions and there are an immense variety available worldwise. For this recipe I used a Peruvian onion which is sweeter than most yellow onions a Canadian would buy, which enable this recipe to resemble its authentic ethnic taste.


Potatoes do not require complex planting and harvesting. They can grow in most climates; they are grown everywhere except Antarctica. According to the International Potato Center, there are more than four thousand varieties of potatoes. Potatoes have been accessible to all classes of people, in most cultures worldwide. This recipe specified using the PukaWayro potato which is a purple potato native to Peru. It is not accessible in Canada, so I substituted it for a boiling potato. If the PukaWayro potato was accessible, it would have changed the appearance and flavour of the dish.

In summary, six out of the seven ingredients I needed are produced in Canada, and can be purchased without much difficulty. Two ingredients were not available, and required me to make substitutions. I substituted the PukaWayro potato with a boiling potato, and I substituted the lamb fat, which is accessible in Canada but could not located readily in Guelph, with vegetable oil. 

The library is committed to ensuring that members of our user community with disabilities have equal access to our services and resources and that their dignity and independence is always respected. If you encounter a barrier and/or need an alternate format, please fill out our Library Print and Multimedia Alternate-Format Request Form. Contact us if you’d like to provide feedback: lib.a11y@uoguelph.ca