Back to the Future

“Give me two bits”, my Grandfather said to the gas attendant. And those two bits of gas (25 cents in those days) would power our car to church, the park, and grocery shopping for the weekend. Those were the days! During those same times I fondly remember that I knew everyone in my neighborhood. Most Saturday mornings were greeted with the early morning hammering from the friendly carpenter down the street. Shortly thereafter, a quick phone call to that same carpenter resulted in the much needed repair in my own home in exchange for a hot meal. Similarly, the plumber that I often only saw on Sundays at church could be called upon for a little plumbing job in exchange for a basket of homegrown food.  I remember walking down my street and enjoying the smell of freshly baked bread and seeing fruit pies cooling in the windows and hearing the laughter of children while they climbed the fruit trees to pick the bounty. I also remember well greeting the neighbors who were working in their Victory Gardens that were full of food and flowers. And one of my best memories was walking home from school to sit down for a fun lunch with my television friend Soupy Sales. He was the childrens television health advocate telling us what would be good to have for lunch that day.

During this time the war was long over yet everyone was reaping (literally!) the rewards of the crisis. Yes, you heard it, ‘rewards of a crisis’!  During the war, the country came together and rallied their resources, including their gardens.  In 1944, Americans produced 40% of their food from Victory Gardens. Since there was a shortage of tin; fewer canned goods were on the market shelves. A shortage of trucks traveling for miles with food goods was also contributing to less food arriving at the markets. According to the 1994 Victory Gardens Leader Guide, “this situation is a special challenge to parents, for children especially need a regular diet of vegetables to keep strong and healthy. We understand now better than ever before that adequate nutrition is the bed-rock of the nation.”

And the reward of a crisis was, 18.5 million food gardens developed to support the war and produce higher quality, local vegetables while saving money. When the war ended, the Victory Gardens remained. 

Today, we are back in a crisis – a worldwide climate crisis. Environmental scientists are declaring we have far exceeded our carbon footprint here on Earth; and we are being urged back into the sustainable limits we resided in back in the 1950’s. This was only 60-years ago, yet how do we regain 60 years in our lifetime and overcome the insurmountable pressure of a burdened planet? Perhaps we can adopt some the same strategies our parents and grandparents utilized during the war, depression and crisis in the 1940’s. What if we begin growing our own Victory Gardens again and shared the bounty with our neighbors and community?

Gardening can have a profound impact on global warming. Click here to learn more.

What if we made an effort to get to know our neighbors a little bit better to see how we might share our gifts with one another?  What kind of change could you and I create today to have a positive impact on the climate crisis?

It is estimated that present day there are more than 43 million food gardens nationwide. Imagine 43 million people in their gardens on one single weekend in May taking the Challenge to raise their voices AND their shovels to do something about the global crisis at hand. It is up to each one of us to improve our world including creating a sustainable economy and a healthy and affordable food supply. One way to do this is to grow your own Victory Garden!

We cannot leave this to others; we must each stand up and be counted. Join the nationwide movement and be counted to grow your food at home. Share your bounty with your neighbors, the homeless, the elderly, disabled, and the under-served. This is how we can create the world we wish to have--one garden at a time.

Learn about the history of Victory Gardens and the parallels of yesterday with today by heading on over to our website. Join in the sustainability movement and register your voice of support at the National 350 Home and Garden Challenge or the 350 Victory Garden Challenge -- a partner of the national challenge. Let your ‘two bits” be counted!

Written by Victory V Lee, founder, Victory Garden Foundation – Victory may be contacted at Director@VictoryGardenFoundation.org. Victory is an Alameda County Master Gardener and Family Herbalist. A native of Detroit MI, Victory has lived in California for over 30 years.

Founded in 2008 by Victory V. Lee, Victory Garden Foundation began as an Oakland CA neighborhood grassroots movement founded in the spirit of the historical Victory Garden movement of the 1940’s. Incorporated and receiving its nonprofit status in 2009, the Victory Garden Foundation Inc (VGF) mission is simple: Encourage people to grow their own food at home!

The goals of VGF are to support the growth of food at home through connecting and sharing with individuals through the sustainable growth and harvest of Victory Gardens in communities throughout the East Bay California and beyond. VGF is committed to achieving these goals through education and outreach, financial and technical assistance, mentoring, and advocacy through the Internet, workshops, and hands-on participation. The Victory Garden Foundation Inc is a non-profit public community-benefit (501c3) organization Tax ID# 27-0598299.