Year of Plenty: Traditional Foodways BRING BACK VICTORY GARDENS!
Jan 10, 2025
Delve into the forgotten legacy of Victory Gardens that flourished during the World Wars. Discover how gardening transformed into a civic duty and spurred communal resilience. Learn about the staggering impact of these gardens, producing 40% of the nation’s food during WWII. From enhancing biodiversity to boosting personal health, gardening is presented as a path toward empowerment and community engagement. Poldi passionately calls for a revival of home gardening to create a more sustainable and connected society.
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Soldiers Of The Soil Sparked Millions Of Gardens
- Poldi Wieland recounts how National War Garden efforts in WWI turned schoolchildren into "soldiers of the soil" and created millions of garden plots.
- That grassroots campaign produced huge quantities of food sent to Europe and sparked nationwide gardening enthusiasm.
WWII Gardens Supplied 40% Of Produce
- Poldi describes how Victory Gardens returned in WWII and massively scaled up, with half of American families cultivating gardens.
- By 1944 Victory Gardens supplied 40% of the nation's produce and families grew about 8 million tons by 1945.
Home Gardens Increase Local Food Resilience
- Poldi argues that widespread home gardening increases local resilience by reducing dependence on globalized food systems.
- He links garden skills to preparedness for supply shocks like the 2020–21 grocery shortages.