Victory gardens: Then and now

The trend to garden in troubled times can be traced in American history.

1930s: Relief gardens sprang out of need during the Great Depression. Depression relief or welfare gardens were a practical answer for those who needed food during the Great Depression in the 1930s. In 1932, Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. provided laborers with plots of land one-eighth of acre to grow vegetables.

1940s: During World War II, they were called Victory Gardens and also known as war gardens or food gardens for defense. These vegetable, fruit and herb gardens were planted in the 1940s by Allied families to take pressure of the public food supply that was brought on by World War II.

Today: Michelle Obama helped break ground for the first garden at the White House since Eleanor Roosevelt’s victory garden during World War II. The first lady said raising vegetables emphasizes the importance of healthy eating. It includes sugar snap peas, lettuce, spinach, radishes, carrots, potatoes, green beans, sungold cherry tomato, pumpkins, sunflowers and broccoli.