Garden goals: past and present

Did you know that victory gardens began with WWI? In 1917 the goals of the victory garden movement are surprisingly similar to what we are working towards today. The goals of the garden movement nearly 100 years ago were to:

• Reduce the food mile
• Teach youth about food systems
• Improve nutrition and health
• Mobilize and unify Americans around food conservation and production efforts, particularly gardening.

The victory garden movement of WWI was incredibly successful. In less than 18 months time the U.S. was exporting three times as much grain, meat and sugar as before the war.