Food, Food, Food
Photo: One of many government posters encouraging Americans to grow a Victory Garden to help the war effort.
Exploring the world of food is a passion for me. I enjoy growing it, cooking it & eating it. Not being dependent on outside sources for everything I put on our table is also my focus these days. Let’s face it, the environment is in trouble, our Government is in deep trouble and the economy is tanking. Who knows what tomorrow brings. I’m not a gloom & doom person but I am a realist.
Our grandparents supported the war effort and protected their families by being self sufficient. They grew “Victory Gardens.” It didn’t matter if you lived on a farm or a small lot in town...everyone “dug in” and planted some food.
Women were a huge force in food production. In this photo Marilyn Glenn was the truck driver, Pat Mann drove the tractor and Norma Mann, her sister-in-law, operated the loader in the Pacific Northwest. [P120:2396]What we have in Iraq I believe is not a war but an illegal occupation. Our current president hasn’t asked any of us to sacrifice in fact he told us to “go shopping.”
Huge corporations are profiting off Iraq, controlling what we know via the corporate owned media and taking jobs away from us by using cheap overseas labor which is destroying the middle class. Carelessly dropping our dollars into their cash registers is also helping to support systems that don’t recognize human rights or protect of our living planet.
Are we headed toward another great depression? Possibly. Something a simple as a little garden patch could really help in times like that. Could you do it? Would you know how to begin?
During the war years women played an important role in food production.
There was the Women's Land Army
Women of all ages and from a variety of backgrounds played an integral role in the success of the Emergency Farm Labor Service. Women who were recruited to work became part of a nationwide group known as the Women's Land Army (WLA). The WLA had its own insignia and uniform, although the uniform was not widely adopted. Soon after passage of Public Law 45, statewide responsibility for the WLA was given to Mabel Mack, the OSC Extension Service's nutrition specialist.
Most women worked on a "day haul" basis -- they lived at home and were transported to farms by personal cars, growers' trucks, or school buses. They hoed, weeded, thinned, and harvested crops of all kinds. Many supervised youth platoons, especially teachers out of school for the summer. A few worked year round, especially on poultry and dairy farms. Others worked in canneries or were leaders for recruiting other women.
Public spaces were also converted to food gardens including this one near Fenway Park in Boston. My grandfather owned a garage across from the ball park at the time and may have even eaten vegetables from this very garden. It is still in existence today and listed in the historic register. Even the Boston Commons and the White House Lawn were dug up for a garden.
Here’s a photo of a family living in town that dug up the grass and planted vegetables instead. It doesn’t take a big plot of land and can be done with hand tools. You can hire someone else to till it up. To learn more check out the garden section on my blog:
If you don’t grow it yourself why not support the people in your area that do? Shop at farmers markets, food co-ops, local organic farmers, you pick it farms. Learn what food is in season and eat that. Reduce your dependence on highly processed foods. The more ingredients the more fuel that was used to ship them all in to the manufacturer. Put your food dollars back into your local economy instead of the pockets of the owners of big box stores.
Spring is almost here! Check out the choices and grow a little food this year. I guarantee when you bite into it you’ll never go back.
Peace and Love,
Val
AVALON FARMBLOG
Friday, January 18, 2008
