History Discussion

Food is a necessity, not a luxury, especially during times of war. In World War I, most of the 30 million soldiers fighting throughout Europe were farmers. Plus, production of farming machinery was idled while materials were diverted to the war effort. This left a void in food production that the United States stepped up to fill.

In 1916, widespread crop failures of potatoes and wheat due to plant disease and lack of draft animals, labor, and manure led to starvation conditions throughout Europe.1 The introduction of the submarine into naval warfare was also responsible by destroying tons of food on ill-fated ships.

The world needed food and America need to step up and provide aid. But the exodus of workers from farms to cities in search of higher wages left American farms short-handed. “When the crisis came, when the production of more food was absolutely imperative if the forces fighting for freedom were not to be starved into surrender and submission, our farms were found stripped of helpers.”2

Charles Lantrop Pack, a very wealthy timberman, forest conservationist and pioneer in forest education, could see the crisis looming over Europe and “conceived the idea . . . of inspiring the people of the United States to plant war gardens in order to increase the supply of food without the use of land already cultivated, of labor already engaged in agricultural work, of time devoted to other necessary occupations, and of transportation facilities which were already inadequate to the demands made upon them.”3 Just weeks before the United States entered the war, Pack organized the National War Garden Commission.

In his book, “The War garden victorious,” Pack noted that:

While the organizers of the War Garden Commission were optimistic and looked forward confidently to the accomplishment of large results, they little dreamed that the war-garden movement would grow so rapidly. The war-garden idea struck a patriotic chord. The American people answered the call to help win the war by producing food in their back yards with the same unanimity and enthusiasm they had shown in responding to each other appeal the country has made for service. One reason for the prompt and eager response to the National War Garden Commission’s appeal to “Sow the Seeds of Victory,” was that immediately after the United States entered the war everybody was patriotically desirous of rendering help in some form. Millions of people realized that they would never be asked to take part as actual soldiers in the great task of overthrowing Prussian militarism. Because of this they wanted to take an active part in some effort which would show tangible results in the struggle for right and justice.

War gardening offered the opportunity.4

As a matter of fact, the project generated such a huge response, and so much food, that the Commission turned to educating for conservation, such as canning, to preserve the food grown in the war gardens.

Growing food in backyards and in vacant lots provided nutritious meals for those on the home front while commercial food sources provided food to soldiers and those facing starvation in Europe. It also freed up transportation sources to ferry military supplies instead of food across the country.

At a time when every freight-car in the country was urgently needed for the hauling of raw materials to be used in the manufacture of munitions of war, for the transportation to the seacoast of finished products, and for hauling lumber and supplies to cantonments and army camps, it was essential that not one food of freight space should be wasted. War gardening released thousands of cars for these essential needs.5

Even schoolchildren participated through the United States School Garden Army.

Through the schools millions of children have been awakened to the value of gardening as a patriotic effort of war time and an undertaking worth while [sic] at all times. They have been taught that nature is a generous giver who requires only to be encouraged. They have been impressed with the importance of food production and trained into an army of practical producers.6

Even after the war, as Europe struggled to rebuild, U.S. civilians continued to nurture their gardens so that we could continue to provide food to those who had suffered malnutrition and starvation.

With the cessation of hostilities he [Food Administrator Herbert Hoover] marshalled the food forces of America and proceeded at once to Europe to join hands with the food forces of England and the Continent to the end that starvation might be prevented. As one of his initial step, before sailing, he asked that the war gardens of America be maintained and expanded. To the Victory Gardeners, he gave the impetus of his urgent plea for continued effort in the cause of food production.7

Park even considered the continuation of victory gardens to be imperative. He opined that the men returning from war had to take on the rebuilding of thousands of miles of roads, constructing new buildings in cities that the war had delayed, and repairing cities in general.

All of these facts point to the increasing value of the victory garden. It will be just as important a factor in the life of the nation and the community after the war as was the war garden during the conflict. The need for gardens will last for many years; and during that time, the value of gardening will have become so apparent that the movement will continue indefinitely. It will have become a habit fixed and firmly implanted in the hearts and lives of the people of the country.8

Although maintaining victory gardens dropped off after World War I, they reemerged when the United States was drawn into World War II.

With the introduction of food rationing in the United States in the spring of 1942, Americans had an even greater incentive to grow their own fruits and vegetables in whichever locations they could find: small flower boxes, apartment rooftops, backyards or deserted lots of any size. Amid protests from the Department of Agriculture, Eleanor Roosevelt even planted a victory garden on the White House lawn.9

At the time, the U.S. government estimated that 18–20 million families provided 40 percent of the vegetables in America by 1944.10 But after the war, victory gardens waned as suburbs grew and people chose to use their backyards for family entertainment instead of growing food.

—by Lori Delacruz Lewis

QUESTIONS:

1. (9)	Explain three reasons why war/victory gardens were important.
2. (9)	Explain why Charles Lathan Pack thought it was important that victory gardens continue after the war.
3. (9)	Describe two benefits of victory gardens beyond providing food.