During WWII, one of our government's efforts to make sure that there was enough food for everyone — civilian and military alike — was the campaign for Victory Gardens.
That idea is resonating again as trips to the grocery store become fraught with fears of coronavirus exposure, and shoppers worry that industrial agriculture could fail them during a pandemic. Today, many are repurposing their personal plots into a new generation of victory gardens — symbols of self-reliance, food production and community resilience not seen since wartime.
George Washington Carver put forth this idea while directing the agricultural Experiment Station at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. As part of his work, Carver wrote agricultural bulletins. In this Victory Garden bulletin, his last, Carver helped his country and many other nations to trust that nature had already provided everything we needed to live well.
The Victory Gardens became a way for people to feel patriotic and contribute to the war effort, and provided 40 percent of vegetables grown in the country during the war. There were almost two million Victory Gardens in America during the war, from suburban backyards to small city plots of land.
Because trains and trucks had to be used to transport soldiers, vehicles, and weapons, most Americans ate local produce grown in their own communities. Victory Gardens were responsible for bringing Swiss chard and kohlrabi onto the American dinner table because they were easy to grow. At their peak there were more than 20,000,000 Victory Gardens planted across the United States. That was one Victory Garden for every seven people.
By 1944 Victory Gardens were responsible for producing 40% of all vegetables grown in the United States. More than one million tons of vegetables were grown in Victory Gardens during the war. People with no yards planted small Victory Gardens in window boxes and watered them through their windows. Some city dwellers who lived in tall apartment buildings planted rooftop gardens and the whole building pitched in and helped. Many schools across the country planted Victory Gardens on their school grounds and used their produce in their school lunches.
Excess food grown in Victory Gardens was canned and used during the winter months to help supplement the amount of food available.
Growing Victory Gardens gave Americans on the Home Front a feeling that they were doing something helpful to win the war.
People feel they need something to do today in this time when it’s easy to feel vulnerable and helpless. Much like the wartime gardens, these new gardens are really about building morale and reducing anxiety as much as actual food security. Even if someone grows one sad little potato out of this, it’s a grounding experience.
