Part 1: "Eat Local" movement has roots in history

by Don Audette, Fall 2008

If everything fell apart and there was a serious food shortage, what could be done? U.S. participation in World War I (1914–1918) provides a clue. Back then the “civilized” world was facing a serious food crisis. Some 60 million men, the majority of them farmers recruited into various armies, were at war. While the armies of the Allied Powers and the Central Powers were slaughtering each other, they were also ruining thousands of acres of productive farmland, and destroying transportation and communications systems involved in shipping foodstuffs. Famine had already been experienced in Belgium and Russia, and the British in early 1917 had most of its food imports cut off because of German U-boats and mine warfare. The United States and other nations took a series of steps to address this situation.

Step 1: Raising Public Awareness of the Food Crisis

Even before the United States entered the war, the government had established an organizational structure and had considered all aspects of “some future war of defense inferentially far distant,” including food production. When the Unites States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, the nation had to help win the war, feed its military, feed its citizens, and help feed its allies. Other factors made this situation worse:

U.S. grain harvests in 1916 and 1917 were poor.
The U.S. railroad system was soon tied up transporting men and materiel to the war front, and food shipments to civilians were not a priority.
German submarines and mines were sending millions of tons of food supplies and war goods to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
U.S. farm labor had been severely depleted since the early 1900s as men moved to urban areas for better jobs and later marched off to war.
Evident to everyone, food prices were increasing markedly. The government didn’t have to do much to raise public awareness—the public was abundantly aware of the shortage.

Step 2: Organizing and Enlisting Public Support

A Council of National Defense, created on August 29, 1916, had the aim of organizing and coordinating war resources, including the supplying of food. The council drew on top talent in the country— experts who served voluntarily for ideas.

When the United States entered the war a little more than seven months later, on April 6, 1917, the national-level Council of National Defense was quickly replicated by the formation of similar voluntary councils at the state, county, municipal, and community level—some 100,000 of them in all. Another national agency, the Woman’s Committee of the Council of National Defense—was also replicated in the subsidiary councils. At the community level—usually the school district—council members in committees were in direct contact with individual citizens through other organizations, such as Chambers of Commerce, churches, school systems, women’s organizations, and Boy and Girl Scouts.

In Virginia, within the Virginia State Council of Defense, the Agricultural Councils of Safety handled food considerations. Rappahannock County’s Agricultural Council of Safety, formed in May 1917, had twenty-two members, including two women: Mrs. W. L. Keyser of Washington (Virginia) and Mrs. P. A. Hughes from Amissville.

Step 3: Educating the Public on Food-Conservation Measures

Having established a key organizational structure from top to bottom, the next step was an educational effort. Information on food production and conservation flowed downward from government agencies—such as the Federal Food Administration, the Department of Agriculture, the Bureau of Education, and the Woman’s Committee of the Council of National Defense—through the council structure to the citizenry. Articles were published in the press and periodicals, information was distributed by trade and fraternal organizations, the message was carried forth by speaker’s bureaus, messages were flashed on movie screens, handbills were distributed door-to-door, and posters, leaflets, and other materials were disseminated through clubs, stores, schools, and the pulpit.

Step 4: Developing the Local Garden Movement

One major idea to solve the food supply problem was through the creation of food gardens everywhere throughout the United States—at home, in backyards, in vacant lots, at schools and businesses, and in community plots. Gardens were even planted along highways and in window boxes. Stress was placed on producing food, along with canning and drying of food not immediately consumed. And there was major effort to eliminate any waste of food. By 1918, the effort paid off. There were an estimated 5,285,000 food gardens in the United States. The term “liberty garden” was used, then “war garden” and, finally, “victory garden.”

Step 5: Getting Feedback

In 1918, many lessons were applied on the basis of the first year’s experience with food gardens. A professor at the U.S. Department of Agriculture summarized them: First, determine the area of land available to you and plan your garden so as to meet the needs of your own household. Then find out what you need in the way perishable vegetables to be eaten fresh or to be dried or canned. This should include root crops that can be stored for winter use, such as potatoes, turnips, carrots, and the like.

Citizens were also encouraged not to grow more than they and their families needed with the idea of selling the excess to other people, as this would interfere with established market gardeners. Insect-pest control consisted of a stick to spear the bug and a can to dump it into, instead of the pesticides of the time, which were mainly naturally occurring poisons such as arsenic.

The entire food-garden movement was based on patriotism and volunteerism. Local food gardens eliminated transportation and distribution costs, and people got exercise working outside in the fresh air, learned how to preserve food for winter use, ate healthier food, got to know their neighbors, and learned to cope.

Part 2: Women organize to support the World War I effort through food production and conservation

Part 3: Home gardens in World War I

Part 4: School gardens in World War I

Part 5: Community gardens in World War I

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