In 1944, in the wake of World War II, our government issued an appeal to American citizens to grow their own food. 20 million Americans did it! People who had no experience with gardening planted up their front yards with vegetables and took over derelict urban lots in order to alleviate pressure on our agricultural industry which was trying to fed the troops and to help to feed hungry Europeans. Amazingly, almost 40% of America’s vegetables were provided by these Victory Gardens! To learn more, click here.

The coolest thing about this was that our government asked people to sacrifice, to chip in and to cooperate by making these gardens a group, family or community effort. In an era when our government tells us “to go shopping or the terrorists have won,” this kind of call to action seems hard to imagine.

But even here in Zone 5 Maine, it’s possible to grow even a little something, even symbolically. Kale is the best example; so hardy! Even tastes better after it snows! I plant it in amongst my flower garden. Even to plant a window box full of herbs is doing your part. Even if your thumb is far from green, joining a CSA– a community supported agriculture farm– is another way to do your part. To find one near you, click here. Occasionally, you can find one that provides food through the winter.

By joining a CSA, you are supporting a farmer and committing to the risks and rewards that come with local organic farming. If the potatoes go mushy, you don’t get any, but if there’s a bumper crop of strawberries, you’re in the right place! We are lucky enough to live on the same road as our beloved farmer, Tom Griffin. We have a share for our family and then I get another one to share with my clients.

Knowing that the average modern meal travels 1500 miles to get to our plates is enough to warrant another call to revive the Victory Garden as an expression of self-reliance and patriotic duty. It’s also good global citizenship in an era when we are all inextricably tied together. Eventually, possibly soon, it might even be cheaper than buying non-local produce.

We are never going to get locally grown coffee, or chocolate, or bananas or coconuts, but for the things we CAN get locally, there’s a new incentive to do it: to find out where you can get them. I’m not saying non-local food will become hard to find in the near future, but if we experience a financial crisis, it will undoubtedly be a boon to local economies.

OK there’s another reason to eat locally grown food: it tastes better than eating mortgage-backed securities.

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