Gardening for Victory

If you ever questioned the production capability of an organic home vegetable garden, consider that in the later years of WWII, Victory Gardens produced about 40% of the nation’s vegetables. Encouraged by the federal government to supplement scarce fruit and vegetables during the war, Americans planted more than 20 million ‘Victory Gardens’. It was emphasized to home front urbanites and suburbanites that the produce from their gardens would help to lower the price of vegetables needed by the US War Department to feed the troops, thus saving money that could be spent elsewhere on the military: "Our food is fighting," one US poster read, and in Britain, the slogan "Dig for Victory" was ubiquitous. These gardens were considered   a civil morale booster, in that in that gardeners could feel empowered by their contribution of labor and rewarded by the produce grown.   victory gardens were planted in London’s Hyde Park, New York City’s riverside area, Golden Gate Park in San Fransisco, and even at the White House. Fruit and vegetables harvested in these home and community plots was estimated to be 9-10 million tons, an amount equal to all commercial production of fresh vegetables.