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The Great 1987 Poutine Shortage: A Nation in Crisis
The Great Poutine Shortage of 1987 remains one of Canada’s most devastating food crises. With cheese curds and gravy in short supply, the nation faced desperation, black market deals, and government intervention.
📝 By Gordie Timber – Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
**QUEBEC CITY – The year was 1987. The Cold War was still going, hair was too big, and Bryan Adams was dominating the airwaves. But for Canadians, none of that mattered. What truly defined 1987 was a national catastrophe unlike any other—the Great Poutine Shortage.
For nearly six months, Canadians were forced to endure the unthinkable: a scarcity of cheese curds and gravy, leading to widespread poutine deprivation in Quebec and beyond. The result? Mass panic, economic instability, and a level of national despair that hadn’t been seen since the last Maple Leafs playoff collapse.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” said Jacques Tremblay, a lifelong poutine enthusiast from Montreal. “One day, you could walk into any casse-croûte and get a large poutine. The next day? Nothing. Just fries. Do you know what it’s like to be handed just fries? It changes a man.”
How Did This Happen?
To this day, experts debate the exact cause of the 1987 poutine crisis, but the most widely accepted theory is a perfect storm of dairy industry failures, supply chain breakdowns, and government incompetence.
📉 Cheese Curd Factories Went Offline – An unexpected mechanical failure at two major cheese curd producers led to weeks of shortages.
📉 Gravy Supply Collapsed – A labor dispute among gravy producers (yes, that’s a real thing) halted production, leaving restaurants scrambling for alternatives.
📉 Quebec’s “Curd Tax” Backfired – A misguided attempt to regulate the cheese market accidentally drove prices so high that even McDonald’s couldn’t afford real curds.
By March of 1987, most poutine vendors were running on fumes, while the black market for cheese curds exploded overnight.
“I saw a guy in a trench coat selling curds out of a briefcase in an alley,” said one anonymous Quebec City resident. “It was $20 for a handful. No receipt. No questions asked.”
The Nation Reacts: Desperation and Despair
As the reality of the shortage sank in, Canadians responded in a variety of ways—none of them particularly rational.
🗣️ “People started hoarding frozen bags of poutine fries like they were gold.” – Dave, 41, Hoarder & Survivor
🗣️ “A guy in my town tried making poutine with shredded mozzarella instead of curds. He hasn’t been seen since.” – Lisa, 38, Witness to Culinary Crimes
🗣️ “We tried using brown gravy from a can. It wasn’t the same. It was never the same.” – Greg, 44, Still Recovering
Meanwhile, in the Maritimes, desperate Canadians began making “alternative poutines” using:
✔️ Cheddar cheese chunks (blasphemy)
✔️ Beef stew gravy (an insult to nature)
✔️ Tater tots instead of fries (what even is this?)
One Halifax resident described the experience as “a dark time in our history—worse than any snowstorm.”
Government Attempts to Restore Order
As public pressure mounted, the federal government was forced to step in.
🔹 April 1987 – Parliament issues a national cheese curd emergency order. (MPs spend 16 hours debating what qualifies as a “real curd.”)
🔹 May 1987 – The army is deployed to transport emergency cheese curd reserves. (Some of these trucks were “mysteriously hijacked” before reaching their destinations.)
🔹 June 1987 – Prime Minister Brian Mulroney reassures Canadians, saying, “We will rebuild our poutine supply. I promise you this.” (The only time in history a Canadian PM has made poutine a national priority.)
Despite these efforts, recovery was slow. Some restaurants resorted to smuggling cheese curds across the U.S. border, leading to tense standoffs with customs officers who, frankly, had no idea what they were dealing with.
“We caught a guy with 50 pounds of Wisconsin cheese curds hidden in his trunk,” said one retired border agent. “I almost let him go. The desperation in his eyes… it was heartbreaking.”
The End of the Crisis (And the Birth of Poutine Patriotism)
By late 1987, the situation gradually improved as:
✅ Quebec curd producers ramped up production.
✅ Gravy suppliers reached a labor deal.
✅ Cheese curd smugglers went back to working “within the system” (sort of).
When poutine finally returned in full force, Canadians never took it for granted again.
The crisis also sparked a cultural shift—what historians now call “Poutine Patriotism.”
🍁 Quebec officially declared poutine a “cultural treasure.”
🍁 Canada began celebrating National Poutine Day.
🍁 People started getting poutine tattoos. (This may have been a mistake.)
“We realized how close we came to losing something sacred,” said food historian Jean-François Leblanc. “We learned our lesson: Never take your poutine for granted.”
Could It Happen Again?
Experts warn that Canada is not immune to another poutine shortage and that a future crisis is possible if supply chains falter again.
🚨 Climate change could impact potato and dairy production.
🚨 Quebec’s poutine cartel (yes, that’s real) could tighten control over curd distribution.
🚨 Another gravy labor strike could bring the country to its knees.
At press time, Canadians were quietly stockpiling cheese curds—just in case.Because if history has taught us anything, it’s that we must always be prepared.
