San Francisco Victory Gardens

Cool site on a cool movement in San Francisco.

From the home page:

Victory Gardens 2008+
(VG2008+) is a program of Garden for the Environment and the City of San Francisco's Department for the Environment. A two-year pilot project to support the transition of backyard, front yard, window boxes, rooftops and unused land into organic food production areas, Victory Gardens 2008+ derives its title from, and build on, the successful nationwide Victory Garden programs of WWI and WWII. Victory Gardens 2008+, however, redefines "Victory" in the pressing context of urban sustainability. "Victory" is growing food at home for increased local food security and reducing the food miles associated with the average American meal.

Urban Gardens Increasing

This morning on the Today show there was a feature on the move toward "urban food gardens" (their term). They tied the movement directly to increasing food prices -- more and more people are doing small backgard, patio, or container gardens as well as larger plots. A Home Depot garden center spokesman said that more and more people are buying vegetable and fruit transplants instead of ornamental plants. They made reference to the Victory Garden movement popular during World Wars I and II when backyard gardens took pressure off the national food supply during those wars.

I may be wrong, but I don't see price-pressures on food changing in the future. If you're resisting beginning to grow your own food because you think this is a short-lived necessity, I would think again.