Dig for Victory

You’ve seen the news: vegetable seeds are selling out. All that
quarantine ennui has combined with anxiety about the gaps on
supermarket shelves to create a whole new population of city
farmers in backyards and windowsills across America. And everyone
from the Los Angeles Times to Forbes to CBS has dubbed these brand
new beds of beets and broccoli "COVID-19 Victory Gardens." But what
war is your pot of basil fighting? This episode, historian
Anastasia Day helps us explore the history of urban gardening
movements—and shatter some of the nostalgic myths about those
original World War II-era Victory Gardens. One thing is true: in
1943, more than 43 percent of the fresh produce eaten by all
Americans came from Victory Gardens. So, can a combination of
vegetable patches, community gardens, and urban farms help feed
cities today? Or is growing food in the city just a feel-good
distraction from the bigger problems in our food system? And does
the hype about high-tech vertical farms live up to environmental
and economic reality? Listen in as farmers and activists Leah
Penniman and Tepfirah Rushdan, food writer Tamar Haspel, and
researchers Neil Mattson and Raychel Santo help us dig in to the
science on urban agriculture, and harvest some answers—as well as a
tomato or two. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
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