Newsletter - April 5, 2022

Dear brothers and sisters,

We read, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens to spark a global food crisis, as simultaneous disruptions to harvests and global fertilizer production are driving up food prices and sending economic shock waves throughout the world…. After a month of war, economists and aid agencies say the world is facing merging crises that could rapidly spiral into a global food emergency. The conflict has already slashed Russian and Ukrainian exports of crucial commodities such as wheat, sunflower oil, and corn…. Foreign Policy.

We say,” Plant a Victory Garden.”

Emulate your forbears “the greatest generation”. After Pearl Harbor they started planting. By May 1943, there were 18 million Victory Gardens in the United States – 12 million in cities and 6 million on farms.

In that year  backyard gardens produced 40% of all vegetables consumed in the U.S.

Eleanor Roosevelt instituted a  Victory Garden on the White House lawn.

Brothers and sisters, let’s plant a Victory Garden by way of saying “yes!” to life.

Plant it as an expression your faith in the people of this land.

Plant a Victory Garden by way of healing this American earth.

Plant a Victory Garden in your backyard to provide you and your family with vibrantly alive kale, parsley, lettuce, celery, beets,   spinach and chard. Plant a Victory Orchard in your front yard with heirloom  apple trees, pears, peaches, apricots, plums and nectarines.

Plant a Victory Garden to express your certainty that one day Hetch Hetchy will be restored.Full fathom five it lies-submerged beneath a man-made lake. A valley comparable to Yosemite in grandeur and beauty. Imagine! Plant a Victory Garden because  you know in your heart, that one day, Jersey City will be a garden for the human spirit.

Plant a Victory Garden by way of fulfilling Abraham Lincoln’s prophecy of a “new birth of freedom”.

Start now to keep a least two bins in your kitchen-one for food scraps and one for everything else. The food scraps go into your compost pile. Tend it with care as it’s the digestive organ of your garden.

If you live in an apartment or condo, join a community garden!

Now is the time! Start those tomatoes and that lettuce, chard, spinach and kale in a seed flat indoors. Get growing America!

What abundant harvests you’ll have!

Jesse Schwartz PhD
President
Living Tree Community Foods