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How revisiting Eleanor Roosevelt’s Victory Gardens program could help feed a suffering nation.
The Monterey County News ^ | December 11, 2008 | Ari LeVaux

Posted on 12/11/2008 12:51:17 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

The Bush administration’s prescription for economic health has been to encourage consumers to shop our way to prosperity. But as we’ve been learning the hard way, doing so with borrowed money isn’t sustainable.

The current recession is already being compared to the Great Depression. And while the effort to win World War II is often credited with helping to end that funk, the two wars we’re currently fighting have only helped sink the economy even more. While we probably don’t need another world war, some lessons learned during the last one may still be relevant.

The nation awaits President-elect Obama’s green version of FDR’s New Deal – which was another catalyst for ending the Great Depression. Obama’s new New Deal holds promise, but I hope that he also considers dusting off another program from that era: First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s Victory Gardens.

The Victory Gardens program supplied Americans with the encouragement, tools, instruction and sometimes even the land necessary to create personal vegetable gardens. Twenty million such gardens were planted during World War II, and they produced 40 percent of America’s vegetables.

“I was 9 or 10 years old,” my dad recalls. “I bought seeds, followed the instructions on the seed packet, and grew corn in the backyard. It didn’t do very well.”

Still, he says, “it was the patriotic thing to do. Food was being rationed. Whatever civilians could grow themselves meant there would be more for the armed services.”

While the Victory Gardens program has been given partial credit for the successful outcome of World War II, what could have been an ongoing and productive legacy of the war effort was derailed by the weapons industry, which suddenly found itself in need of a purpose.

Ammonium nitrate is the main ingredient in both bombs and chemical fertilizer, and after World War II the government encouraged the conversion of the munitions industry into fertilizer production (while also encouraging a shift in the focus of nerve-gas research toward pesticides).

The U.S. government also began subsidizing commodity crops, paying farmers for all the corn, soybeans, wheat and rice they could produce, while a succession of agriculture secretaries encouraged farmers to “get big or get out.” The practice of dumping weapons-grade ammonium and toxic pesticides on gargantuan farm fields – also known as “the Green Revolution” – created literal mountains of the cheapest food in history.

But, as Michael Pollan points out in his recent memo to the next “Farmer in Chief” in the New York Times Magazine, “The era of cheap and abundant food appears to be drawing to a close.”

Rising oil prices are a big reason for this, but expensive food is hardly the only downside to petroleum-intensive farming. “The way we feed ourselves contributes more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere than anything else we do,” writes Pollan. He also points out that before last spring’s spike in food prices, Americans had been paying less and less for food since 1960 (from 18 percent to 10 percent of household income) while paying more for healthcare (from 5 percent to 16 percent of household income).

As four of the top 10 killers in America today – heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes and cancer – are chronic diseases linked to diet, the correlation between money spent on food and medical care doesn’t look like a coincidence. Not only is cheap food health and bad for the environment, but cheap food isn’t even cheap anymore.

If Victory Gardens helped win World War II and end the Great Depression, maybe this time around we could just skip the world war, and improve our health, heal the economy and put the brakes on global warming all at the same time with small gardens. There’s much to be gained by trying – and nothing to lose.

Several organizations are already advocating a return to Eleanor Roosevelt’s program. These include Revive the Victory Garden (www.revivevictorygarden.org), and Victory Gardens 2008+, a San Francisco group that supports the conversion of back yards, front yards, window boxes, rooftops and unused land into organic food – production areas.

Victory Gardens 2008+ defines “victory” as growing food at home to increase local food security and reduce the distance food is transported. The group’s crown jewel is a 10,000-square-foot public garden planted in front of San Francisco City Hall last summer, as a joint project with Slow Food Nation. The produce went to local food banks, and the garden, in its high-profile location, became a showpiece for the importance of local food.

Perhaps the next step, as Pollan suggests in his memo, and with all due respect to lawn-lovers, could be converting a portion of the White House lawn into a vegetable garden. A campaign called “Eat the View” (www.eattheview.org) is already petitioning the president-elect to do just that. A White House “First Garden” in the same soil where Eleanor Roosevelt planted her Victory Garden would send a strong message to the nation and the world.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: agriculture; disease; economy; energy; farming; food; foodsupply; gardening; medicine; obama
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To: metmom

Thanks for the ping, LOL, now we will have victory gardens.

Wish I could remember the post that I posted on our thread, it was a movement to plow the lawns of the White House and turn them into vegetable gardens.........LOL, good idea today.


101 posted on 12/11/2008 1:40:25 PM PST by nw_arizona_granny (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1990507/posts?page=7451 [Survival,food,garden,crafts,and more)
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To: Gabz

Sounds like the perfect evening. Enjoy! :)


102 posted on 12/11/2008 2:39:08 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin ('Taking the moderate path of appeasement leads to abysmal defeat.' - Rush on 11/05/08)
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To: garandgal
I have found that only tomatoes, potatoes, asparagus, cucumbers, squash, and (possibly) green beans are worthwhile to grow

You forgot Okra and collards. (if in the south) Both do well, Okra in hot summer, Collard greens in the cooler months.

103 posted on 12/11/2008 3:59:09 PM PST by MrPiper
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To: TenthAmendmentChampion
I got my first taste of gardening in the thriving Metropolis of San Joaquin which was about 30 miles west of FResno at that time and I am very familiar with the blinding Tule Fog...
104 posted on 12/11/2008 4:22:15 PM PST by tubebender (Retirement...The art and science of Killing time before it Kills you...)
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To: spodefly
...Licensing and inspecting these ‘victory gardens’ to insure their safety and compliance with all local, state, and federal environmental/zoning/agricultural usage regulations would be necessary, and there is no certainty that participants would achieve successful, equitable results....

LOL!!!

105 posted on 12/12/2008 6:33:58 AM PST by Albion Wilde ("Praise and worship" is my alternate lifestyle.)
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To: netmilsmom
Patio tomatoes in containers are fun and easy.

It's pretty much the only thing I've had any luck with, since we live with deer and rabbits aplenty. The losses in shrubbery alone are in the thousands. All flowers must be place on hangers and lowered to be watered, or in second-story windowboxes. They even tear up crysanthemums and marigolds, two things they're not supposed to like, right out of the ground. My hydrangea, arbor vitae and holly are eaten down to a nub. The only plants I've had any luck with are catnip, pampas grasses and boxwood, but they will eat anything if they are hungry enough. They will rip out wire fences and tear down birdfeeders and lick them.

106 posted on 12/12/2008 6:43:49 AM PST by Albion Wilde ("Praise and worship" is my alternate lifestyle.)
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To: metmom
My raspberries have been some trouble but look like they’re finally established.

We have wild raspberries behind our property at the edge of the woods. The briar plot is about five feet by twelve feet and yields about two cups of raspberries for the entire season -- IF I get there before the birds. Are yours domesticated cultivars that are expected to yield better?

107 posted on 12/12/2008 6:47:19 AM PST by Albion Wilde ("Praise and worship" is my alternate lifestyle.)
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To: Albion Wilde; little jeremiah

I bought them through a gardening catalog. Some are Heritage and the few berries that they produced were decent sized.

I understand that berries need to be thinned. The dead canes are supposed to be cut out. Not a pleasant job.

I have a friend who has cultivated ones in full sun and the plants were tall (about 7 feet) and produced a pretty good crop.

I’m beginning to see why raspberries so expensive in the grocery stores.


108 posted on 12/12/2008 7:11:54 AM PST by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: Albion Wilde

I have to say, I am really glad that this thread came about. I had plans to tear up my yard for a garden next year.

Now I’ll stick with containers and “Pick-UR-Own” places.


109 posted on 12/12/2008 7:46:53 AM PST by netmilsmom (Psalm 109:8 - Let his days be few; and let another take his office)
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To: metmom
I understand that berries need to be thinned. The dead canes are supposed to be cut out. Not a pleasant job

Thank you. Every couple of years I've been doing that with long-handled loppers, and I throw the sticky canes out in places where I think that trespassers come through, both deer and humans.

I just think the wild berries probably aren't as large or the canes as productive. I remember in Italy having a pastry with tiny, tiny strawberries that were almost brown, and wonderfully sweet -- I think they were wild or antiques.

110 posted on 12/12/2008 2:15:29 PM PST by Albion Wilde ("Praise and worship" is my alternate lifestyle.)
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To: Judith Anne
Fruit trees are ornamental, and with a minimum of care, produce a LOT of food. Berries and grapes are very satisfying as well, you can get a lot of juice to freeze and use throughout the winter. I used to make jellies, but now stick to juices, because they’re better for you.

When I think back to my days in the city, it seems that city dwellers did better growing things in containers and empty lots than the suburbanites do, probably because of the very hot sunlight and fewer trees. I've seen city people grow large grape arbors, every kind of vegetable and lots of types of flowers. The surrounding bricks and other masonry seem to absorb water and then give off minerals and mist that are pleasing to plants.

Here in the burbs, we have many restrictions on how you can fence, where you can garden (must be in the back, not the front) and so many natural pests like deer, snakes, rabbits, voles, and massive hordes of insects, that it is difficult to garden at all unless you are in older, unrestricted parts of town with lots of sunlight.

111 posted on 12/12/2008 2:24:03 PM PST by Albion Wilde ("Praise and worship" is my alternate lifestyle.)
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To: netmilsmom
Now I’ll stick with containers and “Pick-UR-Own” places.

Pick-your-owns are great for bushelsful for canning or freezing.

We are far enough out of the city that there are several owner-operated produce stores that deal with local farms and sell at 1/3 to 1/2 the price of grocery chains, and the produce is more natural -- a few irregularites, but tastier and no wax coatings or shelf-life sprays. The one I like, for instance, always has many types of local apples, costing as little as 49 to 59 cents a pound.

Even if you go to a farm stand directly, they tend to try to get grocery-store prices; whereas they discount deeply to the independent produce dealers in exchange for steady, high-volume business. It keeps the independents' prices down.

112 posted on 12/12/2008 2:32:53 PM PST by Albion Wilde ("Praise and worship" is my alternate lifestyle.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

“Not only is cheap food health and bad for the environment, but cheap food isn’t even cheap anymore.”

Is it me or is this sentence illiterate.


113 posted on 12/13/2008 10:44:30 PM PST by fishhound (Obama and company are trying to FOCAround with the Church.)
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To: fishhound

Public school education, followed by copious drug use and liberal arts degree from a third-rate college, I’m guessing.


114 posted on 12/13/2008 10:48:20 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet (Barack Obama: In Error and arrogant -- he's errogant!)
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To: fishhound
“Not only is cheap food health and bad for the environment, but cheap food isn’t even cheap anymore.”

Is it me or is this sentence illiterate.

Yes it is illiterate, and yours requires a question mark.

115 posted on 12/13/2008 10:49:42 PM PST by Chunga (Vote Republican)
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To: Chunga

I know. I saw it when it was loading. And could do nothing to stop it. But that guy has an editor....lol


116 posted on 12/13/2008 11:08:30 PM PST by fishhound (Obama and company are trying to FOCAround with the Church.)
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To: weegee

I am very suspicious that a whole lot of the financial mess that our country is in has been engineered to coincide with the last election and get the Dems in the White House. Nevertheless, my husband and I grow a garden almost every year.
I just like having fresh vegetables and food to can. It’s not really any cheaper if at all, but, being self-sufficient and learning more every year is very valuable to me.


117 posted on 12/14/2008 8:35:39 PM PST by NellieMae (Here...... common sense,common sense,common sense,where'd ya go... common sense......)
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To: Albion Wilde

I’ve found that if you surround deer tempting plants with plants in the nightshade family (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, potatoes) that the deer will avoid them. Last year the deer ate a lot of our garden. I tried this trick and lost nothing to the deer this year.


118 posted on 12/14/2008 8:41:27 PM PST by NellieMae (Here...... common sense,common sense,common sense,where'd ya go... common sense......)
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To: NellieMae
I’ve found that if you surround deer tempting plants with plants in the nightshade family (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, potatoes) that the deer will avoid them. Last year the deer ate a lot of our garden. I tried this trick and lost nothing to the deer this year.

Thank you very much for this tip. If I ever move, I will try it. As it is, I live in one of those Neighborhood Nazi Association communities that restricts vegetable growing to the back yard, leaving all the ornamentals and shrubbery on the front and sides vulnerable.

119 posted on 12/15/2008 6:55:15 PM PST by Albion Wilde ("Praise and worship" is my alternate lifestyle.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Can you ping me with your original survival thread. I can’t find it.


120 posted on 03/19/2009 11:55:54 AM PDT by diamond6 (Is SIDS preventable? www.Stopsidsnow.com)
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