Baltimore Eats - OUR COMMON TABLE - October 2007

As a kid I heard tales from my grandparents about how during "The Big One," WWII, everyone grew Victory Gardens in their little yards. Many local families fed themselves almost exclusively from their small plots, with just the occasional chicken or meat acquired with rationing cards.

War World II united the US citizens against a common foe that threatened our existence and way of life, and our people responded in remarkable ways. Much of our food was being diverted to the troops overseas. Along with that stress on the food supply, there were far fewer farmers working the fields, with many of them serving in the military effort. The end result: less produce and fruit for the populace.

To address this, the government launched a massive campaign encouraging what they named "Victory Gardens." There were radio ads, print ads in all major media, and a wonderful collection of posters and billboards. The result was community action as it's finest.

Millions of Americans began digging, tilling, planting and composting. My mom remembers that her mother, Gertie, had a huge garden with tomatoes, squash, pole beans, potatoes, cabbage, melons, onions, strawberries, and asparagus -and on and on. Now they didn't live out in the country, or even in the suburbs -Gertie had a just a tiny yard behind their semi-detached house near Greenmount and 25th!

By 1943, 20 million Victory Gardens were producing around 41% of all the vegetable produce consumed in the nation -and 66,000 pressure cookers were sold to consumers looking to preserve their harvest.

Fast forward one year to 1943 and 315,000 pressure cookers were sold! In the course of just a few years Americans were growing nearly half of the produce necessary to sustain themselves. I don't know if it's just me, but that seems truly remarkable!

When the war was over, the troops made their way home to the factories and the farms. Largely funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation and other major corporate entities, the so-called "Green Revolution" (promoting farming practices based upon intensive mono-cropping with oil-fired tractors applying fertilizer from oil-fed plants to crops irrigated by machine with non-renewable water supplies from fossil aquifers) was gearing up to massive proportions.

The millions of lovingly tended Victory Gardens were replaced with lawns and driveways, and our citizens relinquished the responsibility for their food security to the chemical and fossil fuels industries of the modern corporate food complex -all in the name of "progress."

Fortunately there are now grass root movements afoot all over the world that realize how the food we grow and eat affects our environment, our health, our community and our spirit. We are shopping by the millions at small farmers' markets. Small farmers, the stewards of our remaining open spaces, are once again becoming economically robust. Community nonprofit groups are sprouting up and helping to organize and educate people -leading the way to a world where the growing of food is nurturing, not destructive.

A great example I learned of recently is an outfit called Victory Gardens 2007. This west coast organization defines victory as:
_ Independence from corporate food systems
_ Community involvement
_ Getting people closer to the natural environment

I would also add to those goals:
_ Independence from fossil fuels
_ Learning to enjoy eating seasonally and locally
_ Independence from those unhealthy methods of growing that are rapidly destroying our beloved Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries

WWII may be over, but the need for Victory Gardens definitely is not! In fact they may be more necessary now than ever. Let's again learn how to grow, even in our little city yards, how to nourish the soil.

Let's share the bounty with one another, so that all may be fed. The time is now - lets start preparing our little plots of land, our rooftops and flower pots, for the coming season - let's all Grow for Victory!

Check out these great web sites:
Victory Gardens 2007
www.FutureFarmers.com/VictoryGardens/
City Farmer
www.CityFarmer.org