Dig for Victory!

 

Boys from Pixmore School growing vegetables for the War Effort

First Garden City Heritage Museum

 

Dig for Victory! poster

Imperial War Museum

The Dig for Victory!  campaign was instigated in Britain as soon as World War II started. The government realised that the population would go hungry and possibly starve if the war went on for more than a few months.

The result was that formal gardens lawns and even sports pitches were turned into allotments so that vegetables could be grown.

Lord Woolton was appointed Minister for Food to see this project through and many leaflets were produced offering guidance on raising crops, dealing with pests and building compost heaps.

People were also encouraged to keep animals  and given recipes on how the best use could be made of vegetables fruit,eggs and meat.

After the war ended the drive to produce your own food continued as rationing did not finally come to an end until 1954.

Dig for Victory was very successful exceeding all expectations. Between 1939 and 1945 imports of food were halved and the increase of British land use for food production increased by 80 %.

After a period of decline the demand for allotments in the Twenty First Century is again growing with long waiting lists to have even half a plot of land on which to grow your own food