INTRODUCTION
Marion Margery Scranton,
Commander, War Services,
Pennsylvania State Council of Defense
The Victory Garden movement and its significance in our wartime economy, both as a means of releasing food to our armed forces and of improving the nutritional status of civilians can be appreciated only by those who study the statistics and translate them into homely, every-day meaning. When we hear that Americans produced eight million tons of vegetables last year in home gardens, a quantity which was one-fourth of the entire vegetable production of the nation, it can be seen readily what would have been the state of civilian nutrition if the Victory Garden had not functioned.
As a means of increasing our nation's food supply, both fresh and canned or otherwise conserved for winter use, the Victory Garden has more than justified itself. Not only have people had more food as a result of this home effort, but also they have learned lessons of food selection and preparation, of food values, of human nutrition and its dependence upon proper food selection, which would never have been taught so well in any other way. Millions of dollars of advertising by commercial firms could never have been so effective in teaching the consumer the value of vegetables in the dietary as has the wartime experience of home vegetable production.
The War Services of The Pennsylvania State Council of Defense: is proud of its Victory Garden Program and its accomplishments. By conservative estimates based upon surveys by Council of Defense Block Leaders, Boy Scouts, Victory Garden Committees, and other agencies the number of Pennsylvania gardens for 1943 was found to be approximately 1,400,000 gardens. This doubled the number of home gardens grown in 1942, which in turn represented a considerable increase both in number and size of gardens which pertained during the period immediately preceding the present world conflict
Governor Edward Martin has asked for a 10 per cent. increase in the number of Pennsylvania home gardens for 1944, or a total 1,540,000 Victory Gardens. The 1500 functioning Victory Garden Committees of the State Council of Defense throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are pledged to reach or exceed this quota.
The State Council of Defense offers all possible help to civilians on what to plant to add to the nutritional well-being of families of all sizes and compositions. Through cooperation with the various state agencies, notably the Department of Agriculture of the Commonwealth and The Pennsylvania State College, the latter with its County Farm Agents in every county, as well as other horticultural groups, civilians are given whatever technical information they may desire in selecting garden sites, testing soil, selecting seeds, and in cultural methods.
As the season progresses, the home gardener is assisted in canning, or otherwise conserving whatever his garden offers over and above that which may be eaten fresh. If the housewife does not have the home facilities or experience for proper home preservation of her Victory Garden produce, the Pennsylvania State Council of Defense offers the use of its Victory Garden Conservation Kitchens, scattered throughout the state.
Surpluses in excess of family needs are canned for civic purposes—the local hospital, and school lunch, and food banks.
An example of the democratic functioning of a local Victory Garden Committee may be found in a recent report made by Mrs. Alexander J. Barron, Victory Garden Chairman for Allegheny County, in which Pittsburgh is located. The report, in part, follows:
"Supervisors were appointed not only for all of the large plots which contained possibly 65 or 70 gardens, but for smaller plots also. And these men and women proved of great assistance in staking out gardens after plowing had been done, giving friendly advice throughout the summer, occasionally prodding lazy gardeners, and in the fall reporting on any neglected plots. Supervisors, of whom there were about 46, were called together occasionally during the summer and fall to discuss problems common to all, and it is to many of them, who gave us wonderful help in 1943, that we shall turn this year for continued support.
"A downtown office in a room adjoining that of the County Extension Service was maintained for several months in the spring, and members of our committee gave assistance in testing soil and serving as an information bureau. Gardens were given out directly by the committees under this office. A special effort was made to care for settlement and housing groups.
"Victory Garden chairmen were appointed throughout the county in each municipality, suburb, and township, and were given help and advice as needed, although each local chairman was encouraged to handle his problems as he thought best. Of course, in rural sections everyone had his own farm or garden. But in industrial centers like McKeesport, Duquesne, and in Wilkinsburg, at the edge of the city, outstanding Victory Garden programs were developed, as was the case in some suburbs like Mt. Lebanon and Sewickley. Many of the large industrial companies, including Westinghouse, Carnegie Illinois, the Lewis Foundry, Pittsburgh Coke & Iron, Hagen Corporation, Homestead Steel, Allis-Chalmers, and Gulf Research Laboratory, had large plots for employees and gave prizes at the end of the year. It has been impossible to make an accurate census of all the Victory Gardens in Allegheny County, but we estimate that in 1943 there were at least 300,000.
"`Perhaps of even greater value than the amount of food raised was the friendliness and breaking down of class distinctions among those working in some of the large allotment plots. In one plot, for instance, there was to be found an unusually interesting cross section of American life, including seven doctors (one a woman), two dentists, several lawyers, a college professor, a research man from the Mellon Institute, the president of one of Pittsburgh's largest utility companies, a member of the Stock Exchange, a councilman, a man in the City Water Bureau, a street car conductor, a newspaper man, two Negro families, one Czech family, several mill workers, white collar workers, housewives, and garden club members.
"A canning chairman was appointed under each Victory Garden chairman throughout the county and was urged to make a survey of the needs of her community and to let this office help her arrange for demonstrations by trained domestic science teachers, if necessary. The committee cooperated with the Red Cross, the city and county schools, the Agricultural Extension Service, and commercial companies who sent out their own teachers.
"Under the Board of Education, the home economics supervisors arranged for 26 demonstrations to be given in the public schools of the city. Nine demonstrations in canning, dehydrating, and freezing were held at the Pittsburgh Garden Center. The committee also: arranged for canning lessons at five different settlement houses and eleven of the housing projects. Regular canning sessions were held at the Woods Run Settlement Home eight different days, as well as four demonstrations, the women of the community bringing their own produce and canning it for their own use. Under the county schools there were domestic science teachers working constantly in several districts, among them West Deer and Mifflin Townships. One especially interesting canning center was held at the Liberty School where surplus produce was brought in and canned under a trained teacher. Miss Isabelle Bewick of the Agricultural Extension Service gave 74 separate demonstrations in different parts of the county and reached 2388 people.
"The committee encouraged canning projects in Sewickley where women canned vegetables that were donated to the Sewickley Valley Hospital for hospital use, and in Kennedy Township, where a group of women canned over 3000 quarts of vegetables and fruit for the Ohio Valley Hospital. We feel that the teaching of canning and dehydrating was so readily available throughout the county that anyone who wished to learn had opportunity to do so."
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