World War Victory Gardens: Repurposed Propaganda to Save The Planet!

World War Victory Garden posters inspire a new generation of guerrilla gardeners.

During World War I and World War II major powers around the world encouraged Victory Gardens. These small plots of land operated by families and communities were also called “war gardens” or “food gardens for defense.” They were vegetable, fruit and herb gardens grown in people’s homes and public parks in the United States, Canada, Australia and Germany. Their aim was to alleviate demand on the public food supply. In addition, they acted as a morale booster by empowering citizens during trying times. In the coming years, we will need to band together. The demands on our food system will be increasingly affected by climate change. It is time for a rebirth of Victory Gardens.

Planting gardens worked (at least for the Allies). Their plots provided people with the necessary resources to triumph in bringing about peace. Moreover, citizens developed the skills to feed themselves. In the first World War, the U.S. planted five million gardens and grew $1.2 billion dollars’ worth of food by cultivating on public lands. In May 1943 Popular Mechanics reported that there were 18 000 000 gardens in the U.S. in support of the war effort. 12 million in cities and 6 million on farms.

Clearly the government had the right idea about supporting people through grassroots initiatives. However, like many government efforts, the project took place in a time of emergency. The question is, what stops us from implementing this strategy in a time when according to the UN the World is faced with ‘unprecedented food insecurity.’ With climate change on the horizon, and the access to affordable, healthy food becoming increasingly difficult for families across the globe, how can we best come together?

Educating citizens about our food systems is key.

Whether it is through the repurposing of posters, or starting our own viral campaigns, educating people about sustainable agriculture is a first step to preserve and repair our ecosystems. Through education, we can reduce the corporate lobbies’ control over what people eat. The power of the people lies in what they purchase. Most importantly we can force corporations to account for the impacts the current global food system has on our health and environment.

Large scale farming is a huge polluter.

For the purpose of suvival we must reduce our dependency on packaged food. Consider that the leading 10 corporate food producers are responsible for more greenhouse emissions than the average industrialized nation. While one of the options is to stop giving them our money, we need to find ways to do this so that people can eat. Community gardens that help fight food insecurity, and empower groups are already growing in “agrihoods” in Detroit and around the U.S.

By sustainably growing even 25% of what we eat, we can enrich vast amounts of soil, reduce emissions from shipping food, and put money back into our pockets. We also take money way from the large scale food polluters who are not been held accountable.

Growing your own food is patriotic.

In the current age, the U.S. and other Northern nations treat the Global South like a backyard from which to feed – destroying Amazon rainforests to breed cattle and importing from countries where people can’t afford the food they grow on fertile land. All the while, the U.S. alone wastes 31% of its food.

Our goal for revamping Victory Gardens isn’t about alleviating the demand on public food supply but to ensure that it is always met in all communities around the globe. Our focus should be on taking power away from large agricultural lobby groups. They dictate what people eat, receive exorbitant subsidies, and pollute our environment while small farmers go out of business.

We need to share local food with our neighbours, empower people to grow food for themselves, and talk about where our food is coming from. With less dependence on big agriculture and imports, we will revoke politician’s power over our plates and potentially change the structure of a global industry.

The war that might truly unify mankind is the one we are currently fighting against climate change.

If people had continued cultivating and harvesting after the “war to end all wars” perhaps the capitalist grip on our food system would not be so tight. The propaganda to inspire the food security revolution have already been sketched. Along with a strategy that will force us to reevaluate the choices we make. Also, the posters have a retro feel that make you think of Bernie Sanders as a nice young lad eating food from a community garden in Brooklyn.