Remember that song???  I remember it well.  Its lyrics inspired thousands of people to come to San Francisco.  Written by the Mamas and Papas John Phillips, and recorded by Scott McKenzie, the song quickly became a cultural icon.

At age 7, I was too young to travel to San Francisco during the summer of 1967.  I won't miss my opportunity this time, though, and will be joining thousands of other like-minded people over Labor Day Weekend 2008 for what promises to be an amazing series of events and activities sponsored by Slow Food Nation. "Come to the Table" invites all of us to travel to San Francisco, to recognize our collective strength, to learn more about sustainable food systems, real food, and to celebrate together. 

Top on my list will be a visit to the San Francisco Victory Garden at the Civic Center. In World War I and World War II, the Civic Center was home to Victory Gardens.  San Francisco had extraordinarily robust wartime gardening programs, and celebrated the success and importance of this work through a series of public activities. It says a lot about the City of San Francisco that it is once again claiming civic space for such an important activity. 

We can learn some important things from our past about the use of civic space for gardening.  In WWI, Edith Wilson (President Wilson's second wife) grazed sheep on the White House lawn, doing her "bit" for the war effort. Eleanor Roosevelt planted a vegetable garden on the White House lawn during WWII.  Photographs of Vice President Henry Wallace working in his Victory Garden, sometimes with his son, were distributed to the Press Corps during WWII.  Gardens were planted in public spaces throughout the nation: parks, schools, and city-owned lots.  Gardens were planted at homes, on median strips, on military bases and at workplaces...wherever Americans lived, worked, gathered, prayed for the war's end, and hoped for a brighter, more peaceful future. 

In WWI and WWII, gardening claimed not only important physical space in American life, but an important place in the American psyche.  Gardening was a vital expression of American civic life, bridging ethnic, socioeconomic and class differences.  It was an activity to which we could devote our considerable energies without reservation.  An activity that united us in hard and uncertain times.

If you're going to San Francisco, this summer, be ready to celebrate Victory Gardens, an old idea that is coming around again.  Be ready to learn a lot about America's food system.  Be ready to meet other people who share your dreams, your values, and who are ready for a food revolution.  If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.  And bring your gardening tools.

"A Garden For Everyone.  Everyone in a Garden." 

My work as an historian of wartime gardening efforts is a small piece of my larger work as an historian of the American homefront during wartime.   Without understanding the battlefront, one cannot truly understand the homefront.  (And one cannot understand the American homefront without comparing it to other homefronts, so I find myself studying other nations, as well).  I am in the odd position of being a person adamantly opposed to war, but also its constant student.

When talking about the power Victory Gardens had on the American homefront in particular, it's easy to focus on the positive, and I do. There's the fact that Americans increased food production and improved their diets during a period of challenge.  That they used gardening as a way to create common purpose among a diverse people.  That gardens provided a means to re-introduce a producer ethic that had been increasingly lost in a nation that was becoming more consumer-oriented, and to educate a younger generation about their food system.  And so much more of value during wars that were horrific.

I sometimes find my current framework challenged by individuals who view Victory Gardens within the larger context of war and the unhealthy sort of nationalism that often parades as patriotism.  They view the context of war as divisive.  I appreciate their concern, because I struggle with the ambiguity and those concerns on a daily basis. 

Recently, I was intereviewed by Lisa Kivirist, a writer/innkeeper/ecopreneur/organic grower who is doing important work in the area of rural women and economy.  Lisa is also a Food and Society Policy Fellow.  The article appears under the title Planting Patriotism: Recreating The Victory Gardens For Modern Times  In the article, Lisa quotes me. I include that quote - and some of Lisa's comments - here to clarify my philosophy about Victory Gardens, and why I think the term works today.

Lisa:  "...Hayden-Smith isn’t a historian stuck in the past – she’s an advocate championing bringing the Victory Garden concept back to create a sustainable food system for future generations. Historically, World War II Victory Gardens were kitchen gardens planted to help relieve wartime food shortages. Hayden-Smith defines Victory Gardens more broadly:

Rose:  “A Victory Garden today can be any garden with a purpose that you define personally. That purpose can be a family project to raise food for your household or a community effort to grow produce for a local food bank or whatever else you see as a need.”

Lisa:  "Such mission based gardening moves our food choices beyond our own personal plate and into the political realm: Make a statement with your garden, vote by example for self-sufficiency and independence.  Why rekindle the Victory Garden concept today?"

Rose: “Victory Gardens showcase patriotism in its truest sense, with each of us taking personal responsibility for doing our individual part to create a healthy, fair and affordable food system."

I want to thank Lisa for encouraging me to articulate my philosophy.  I hope you'll learn more about her work and visit her website. 

The American homefront today is far different than the homefronts of WWI or WWII.  While Victory Gardens have little formal connection with our nation's current military involvements, they have everything to do with purpose, personal mission and goals, and a sustainable food future.

"A Garden for Everyone.  Everyone in a Garden."

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UC Advisor Emeritus Dan Desmond (he was also a Food and Society Policy Fellow, Class IV) and I co-authored an op-ed that appeared last Sunday (May 4th) in the Ventura County Star.  Since then, it's been referenced in a few blogs.  Here's the link, and I hope you'll read it.  Gardening and the food system are big news these days, and there is certainly a political aspect to that.

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/may/04/food-will-win-the-war/

I recently returned from the Kellogg Food and Society Conference in Arizona.  There, I met a number of incredible people who are doing important work towards a more sustainable food system.  I'll be writing about them in the weeks ahead.

Several of those who made the greatest impression upon me were bloggers dedicated to their message and their craft. They've inspired me to commit to blogging at least 2-3 times a week.  Stay posted.

"A Garden for Everyone.  Everyone in a Garden."