Plant A Victory Garden. Our Food Is Fighting.
1941-1945
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"Food will win the war and write the peace," announced Agriculture Secretary Claude Wickard in a statement to the press in early 1943. Even before the United States entered the war in 1941, U.S. farmers were producing at record levels to supply the food needs of the Allies.
After the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, getting food and equipment to American troops strained production and distribution systems to their limits. Farm labor was in short supply as men left for military service. The Office of Civil Defense was given primary responsibility for convincing non-farm families to produce and preserve some of their food at home.
Although by the 1940s most people in the United States lived in towns and cities, many felt some romantic nostalgia for the farm life their parents and grandparents had left. Food rationing, begun in 1942 by limiting purchases of coffee and sugar and later expanded to other products, added practical necessity to nostalgia. This poster explains that "A garden will make your rations go further." Patriotic fervor was contagious and victory gardens sprang up everywhere.
Text adapted from "Victory Gardens in World War II" in the April/May 1986 National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) publication Social Education.
After the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, getting food and equipment to American troops strained production and distribution systems to their limits. Farm labor was in short supply as men left for military service. The Office of Civil Defense was given primary responsibility for convincing non-farm families to produce and preserve some of their food at home.
Although by the 1940s most people in the United States lived in towns and cities, many felt some romantic nostalgia for the farm life their parents and grandparents had left. Food rationing, begun in 1942 by limiting purchases of coffee and sugar and later expanded to other products, added practical necessity to nostalgia. This poster explains that "A garden will make your rations go further." Patriotic fervor was contagious and victory gardens sprang up everywhere.
Text adapted from "Victory Gardens in World War II" in the April/May 1986 National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) publication Social Education.
This primary source comes from the Records of the Office of Government Reports.
National Archives Identifier: 513818
Full Citation: Poster 44-PA-368; Plant A Victory Garden. Our Food Is Fighting.; 1941-1945; World War II Posters, 1942 - 1945; Records of the Office of Government Reports, Record Group 44; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/victory-garden-food-is-fighting, December 5, 2024]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.
