Learning from History: Collapse & Kitchen/Victory Gardens
Urban agriculture is not a new movement. Though it had been already been adopted throughout the world, it was brought to North American with its first settlers. The kitchen garden plot – a field of cultivated land yielding a reliable supply of food for the family – was central as a way to achieve household food security and economic independence.
The United States shift from an agrarian republic to an industrialized society in the 19th century slowed the use, and construction of kitchen gardens. There was, however a revitalization of kitchen gardens – which took on the name “victory gardens” – during the First and Second World War. The United States government asked its citizens to plant gardens in order to support the war effort. In 1943, Americans planted over 20 million victory gardens, and the harvest accounted for nearly a third of all the vegetables consumed in the country that year (revivevictorygarden.org).
There are many examples highlighting the success of kitchen gardens, especially during difficult times. Check out Harvest Freedom for other examples of Gardening in Hard Times.