Return of the Victory Garden

As I drive through my neighborhood and see numerous new raised beds and tilled gardens that weren’t in place last year, I can’t help but think about the stories I’ve heard from some of my elder family members about "Victory Gardens". Although Victory Gardens were wide-spread during the World War I and II era, many people today have never heard of them.

Victory gardens were vegetable, fruit and herb gardens that were grown to help feed and support families so national resources could be devoted towards the war efforts. Many farmers were called away to fight in the wars and agricultural factories diverted to producing war supplies, resulting in drastic shortages of food and driving up prices immensely. Sugar, milk, butter, cheese, eggs, coffee and canned goods were all rationed due to extreme shortages. The need was so great, that in 1917 a National War Garden Commission was formed to promote gardens as a way to not only feed families, but to also lower the cost of food to feed troops…thus instilling a national sense of patriotism associated with gardening. It is estimated that more than 20 million Americans, mostly women, planted "Victory Gardens", including Eleanor Roosevelt’s Victory Garden on the White House lawn.

Posters with slogans such as "Sow the Seeds of Victory, Plant and Raise Your Own Vegetables" and "Your Victory Garden Counts More Than Ever" were distributed throughout the country. Everyone from city dwellers to suburbanites to those living in the country were encouraged to plant and grow as much food as possible. Magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post published stories teaching people how to grow and preserve their own food. Over 315,000 pressure cookers were sold in the U.S. in 1943.

Public lands, including parks and vacant lots, were turned into gardens in an effort to publicize and promote the "war garden" effort. Only two of those still survive today, the Fenway Victory Gardens in Boston and the Dowling Community Garden in Minneapolis. Others included the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco and Hyde Park in London. Gardens were planted on apartment rooftops and front lawns – virtually anywhere there was vacant space available. Neighbors pooled resources and formed food cooperatives to grow and share food together. The Department of Agriculture estimated that approximately 10 million tons of food was grown during the Victory Garden years.

Gardens are re-emerging today as more people desire to be self-sufficient, eat locally grown food, and strive to save money as food prices soar. While they might not technically be "Victory Gardens", modern day gardeners no doubt share many of the same feelings as their predecessors…a sense of pride, independence and empowerment in providing food for families and neighbors alike.