Gardens, triumphant

The victory-garden movement

By Caroline Cummins

July 25, 2008

In recent months, those of you who pay attention to agricultural activist trends may have noticed the rise of something called the “victory-garden movement.” The title comes from the Victory Gardens of World War II, in which citizens with a bit of open land were encouraged to grow their own food. These days, however, the term has been stretched to mean something more like a “back to the yard movement,” encouraging ordinary folks to, yup, grow their own food and defeat The Man instead of a wartime enemy. For those of you interested in sticking it to The Man with your zucchini, check out what the San Francisco Chronicle and an intrepid blogger have to say on the matter, as well as Slow Food Nation’s current efforts to build a victory garden in downtown San Francisco.