During World War II, home gardening and canning were considered patriotic duties because they reserved the nation’s farm products for the armed forces and our struggling allies. The home garden effort was promoted everywhere, from newsreels to billboards, with slogans like “Grow Vitamins at Your Kitchen Door” and “Dig for Victory Now.”
There had been similar efforts during World War I, but the program didn’t reap huge rewards until World War II, when home gardening took on new meaning and was transformed into one of the greatest mass volunteer efforts ever achieved. Almost 20 million garden plots, about one for every six people, were planted in any available space: lawns, parks, playgrounds, vacant lots, school grounds or any civic property. For apartment dwellers in cities, produce was grown on rooftops, on fire escapes, and in window boxes.
Cooperatives were formed, neighbors combined resources with neighbors and compared techniques and results. Clubs of all kinds were founded with produce as their focus. Some of the oldest food co-ops in the country date from Victory Garden patriotism. Contingent commerce saw huge gains, such as sale of seeds and pressure cookers for canning.
With this great focus came incredible success. Toward the end of the war the USDA reported that almost half of America’s produce was grown in victory gardens. The home harvest tonnage was equal to commercial production. With the war over, focus was lost. There were produce shortages when great numbers of those who had started growing stopped, believing the need was over.
There’s a new war being fought right in our backyards, and that’s the war on hunger. Estimates vary, depending on who’s doing the study and the metrics, but a fairly consistent baseline is that about one in six people in our country struggle with hunger or malnourishment due to not being able to afford either a complete diet or a nutritious one.
Many industrious, self-reliant, Kingston-area residents will tell you home gardens never went out of style, and when you see the zeal around our local nurseries you may well believe it. But in fact the scale achieved during the Victory Garden era dwindled until it was statistically negligible, and home gardening in terms of frequency of homes participating has only enjoyed a renaissance in the past five years or so.
This renaissance is largely a result of high food prices and, secondarily, of heightened nutritional awareness and Baby Boomers’ dedication to living longer. Many home gardeners spread the wealth by sharing their excess with their local food banks, especially during squash season, and we’re always glad to get it. Many have been motivated by the Grow a Row movement, which encourages the responsibility of not only growing at home, but sharing the harvest outside the home.
Among the food ShareNet provides to folks in need, produce remains our most challenging segment. Even with excellent local support, such as Valley Nursery who grow a row, we rarely have enough, and also have the challenges any perishable product represents. In years past, food bank distribution was largely limited to processed foods. Add that to the fact those foods make up the bulk of the American diet, and that equals a learning curve for all in terms of encouraging nutrition over ease. We’re winning that battle; even fava beans find a home!
Beyond the contributions from home gardeners with a big patch or “grow a row” folks, our largest single donor of fresh local produce is Kingston Farm and Garden Co-op’s Giving Garden. Next month, our article will feature news from the Giving Garden and how they’re helping ShareNet.
— Mark Ince is executive director of ShareNet. Contact him at sharenetdirector@centurytel.net
