>>As I said for many a family during the great Depression their garden was the difference that allowed them to put something on the table everyday.<<
In the summer or winter? In any area not in the US Southwest? I think not.
Have you never heard of canning?
I have the feeling you just want someone to argue with. Are you having a boring or bad day?
Oh, good grief. Stop sounding like such a helpless urbanite. Have you never heard of preserving food? Canning? Smoking? Salt or sugar curing? Root cellars?
Yes, they grew what they ate and grew enough to tide themsleves and their families over the winter. For crying out loud, there wasn’t always a Safeway. You need to get out more.
Garden greens thrive in the Pacific Northwest in the winter. Select seeds produced for your area. And you don’t need to water them once they’re established. And they may attract deer, which are delicious.
My dad grew up in Nebraska. He told me about his family’s root cellar and storing potatoes in sand—he ate mostly potatoes as a kid during the depression—hunted for rabbits in woods, etc. Not easy childhood, but they survived by canning tomatoes, fruit, veggies like beans, etc and stored potatoes—they lived in small town—not on a farm and struggled. So could survive if person knows how to put up food. That is key.
Think not? Try it. There's such things as greenhouses. In many parts of the country, one can manage to grow some foodstuffs throughout most of the year. Mushrooms can be grown in the basement or closet with no concern how cold or hot the outside weather might be. Ever heard of homecanning your garden produce and cold cellars for root vegetables?
And dehyrating foods.