Victory Gardens & Rationing

Victory Gardens and Rationing. . , Victory Gardens, also called "War Gardens" or "Food Gardens for Defense", were vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Germany during World War I and World War II. They were used along with Rationing Stamps and Cards to reduce pressure on the public food supply. Besides indirectly aiding the war effort, these gardens were also considered a civil "morale booster" in that gardeners could feel empowered by their contribution of labor and rewarded by the produce grown. This made victory gardens a part of daily life on the home front. Pratt Air Field had several of these Victory Gardens. , Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, or services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Every American was issued a series of ration books during the war. The ration books contained removable stamps good for certain rationed items, like sugar, meat, cooking oil, and canned goods. A person could not buy a rationed item without also giving the grocer the right ration stamp. Once a person's ration stamps were used up for a month, they couldn't buy any more of that type of food. This meant planning meals carefully, being creative with menus, and not wasting food. Local ration boards across the country administered the program. All rationing ended in 1946. , Copyright © 2015 B-29 Museum Inc. - Funded in part by the Recreational Trails Program administered by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism - Sign by Lowen Sign, Hutchinson, KS.