"GARDENS: Have Pulled America Out of Some of Its Darkest Times. We Need Another Revival"

"Gardens Have Pulled America Out of Some of Its Darkest Times. We Need Another Revival. We Need Another Revival." BY TOM PHILPOTT | AUGUST 5, 2020, Moyers On Democracy.



This post originally appeared on Mother Jones.

As the pandemic smolders and the economy plunges into an abyss, Americans have reverted to the venerable World War II–era tradition of organized disaster gardening. According to headline writers, that is.

“Food Supply Anxiety Brings Back Victory Gardens,” declared the New York Times in late March. “Just like World War II, many are relying on their garden’s bounty to get them through this uncertain time,” echoed Good Housekeeping in early May. The multinational lawn-chemical giant Scotts Miracle-Gro wants to leverage this sentiment. “Plant your #VictoryGarden today,” a recent ad urges watchers over scenes of sun-dappled suburbanites pulling produce from loamy backyard plots.

Look around, though. Do you see vegetable gardens pretty much everywhere? Not just in private lawns, but also in vacant city lots, schoolyards, public parks, the strip between sidewalks and streets? That’s what Victory Gardens looked like, during World War II and also during World War I’s lesser-known gardening bonanza. These were giant mobilizations, harnessing grassroots energy with massive public investment.

What’s going on now is different. True, Google Trends reports that US searches for “gardens” have spiked this spring to their highest level ever, and vegetable seed sales are way up as well. Nearly 20 percent of adults surveyed in April said they had gardened more than usual in the past month. These data points suggest that millions of people are getting their hands dirty as food insecurity rises and government efforts to alleviate it sputter and our society enters an economic downturn that could rival or surpass the Great Depression.

But these aren’t Victory Gardens, any more than scattered individual refusals to pay rent constitute a general rent strike that challenges entrenched power. A true Victory Garden push would look like something else. It would channel the idled energy of mass unemployment away from despair and into something productive and hopeful, while also relieving stress and increasing access to high-quality fresh food. It would be unmistakably political, even radical. Scotts Miracle-Gro markets Victory Gardens as a self-affirming individual lifestyle choice. History offers a different model...

Read More on Gardens,
https://billmoyers.com/story/gardens-have-pulled-america-out-of-some-of-its-darkest-times-we-need-another-revival/

~ NOW WE NEED *DEMOCRACY GARDENS* MORE THAN EVER, AS I POSTED HERE MONTHS AGO ~
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Read More of 'MOYERS ON DEMOCRACY,' Aug. 6, 2020.
https://mailchi.mp/moyersmedia/5p689c9ey4-490034?e=cf5f034ef4