VictorY is OuRs BY RITA CALVERT
The new Victory Garden movement for our times has taken root
While COVID19 raged, there was a new breath of life into the Victory Garden movement, also known as Grow It Yourself. “Food Supply Anxiety Brings Back Victory Gardens,” proclaimed the New York Times in late-March 2020. The term was used during World War II to describe small vegetable and fruit gardens at homes, parks, and other public spaces, promoting gardening for unity. But the idea actually started in World War I, when such spots were called Liberty Gardens to help secure the national food supply. Youth gardeners were recast as “soldiers of the soil,” and no plot was left uncultivated, lest it be considered “slacker” land. Rose Hayden-Smith writes in her 2014 book, Sowing the Seeds of Victory: American Gardening Programs of World War I, “Gardens were ‘munitions plants,’ garden furrows became ‘trenches,’ and food was referred to as ‘ammunition.’ Victory Gardens drove the creation of 20 million gardens. These gardens lessened food chain demands and boosted morale.”
the same time, food pantry lines stretched for miles; many in the wait being folks who had never needed food aid in the past. This occurrence was about supply and demand as well as food security. But, when the going got tough, Americans also turned to more gardening—for sustenance and comfort.
The 2020–21 pandemic has given us a new awareness of the origin of our food, an awareness that was not always pleasant. Due to immense breakdowns in food distribution, supermarket shelves were left bare while newscasts about milk being dumped and produce rotting in the field or being plowed under, abounded. The industrial food system was showing cracks. At
Take Annapolitan Christina Berry, who had no background in growing food and turned it into a family-friendly hobby. Now she says, “It’s been super fun, especially having my five-year-old out there with me, taking earthworms to the compost and learning about plants together as he’s been digging and planting with me.”
70
What’s Up? Annapolis | April 2021 | whatsupmag.com
Now, the initiative to “grow your own food” is about establishing food resilience while being out in nature in our COVID-complicated world. Timing was perfect in the sense that March was the beginning of growing season locally or at least the time to shop for garden supplies, whether for a nice-sized plot in the yard, a container garden, or a simple pot or two in a window. Garden centers and longtime gardeners have noticed more novices this year picking their brains on tips and troubleshooting. Many fledgling gardeners were educated by a healthy dose of internet research.
