RW&G's Campaign for a National Victory Garden Revival: Write Your U.S. Representative or Senators!

Please consider writing your U.S. Representative or Senators today regarding federal support for a formal National Victory Garden Revival. 

• Why take action? Because government sponsorship will focus media interest on the matter, which in turn will attract more gardeners/would-be gardeners to the cause. 

• What would a formal national Victory Garden revival look like? Ideally, at the federal level, it would a concerted effort on behalf of government entities to channel existing programs into a formal, cohesive program and promoting it to the public persuasively. In my opinion, it's largely a case of branding...which means that it's doable. Specific aspects can be tinkered with...the most important thing for now is to get the conversation going in Washington and, more importantly, with the wider American public.

When you write, you might want to make the following points (yes, you have my permission to cut and paste and/or modify the following text to save time...however, it'll be more effective/persuasive if you write it out (at least in part) in your own words):

• With rising concerns about food, fuel and national security, Americans have an opportunity to take a patriotic, bipartisan approach rooted in U.S. history. By raising even small amounts of food in our homes, businesses, schools and community, we can cut our reliance on fuel, ensure access to fresh, safe food and demonstrate once more our collective resilience in the face of adversity. (More terrific reasons here from leading Victory Garden advocate Sharon Astyk.)

• The recent tomato salmonella scare is just one example of a crisis that could have been averted if we were more self-reliant. Plus, tomatoes are easily grown for several months in most states...a majority of Americans  now anxious about food safety could be persuaded to start growing tomatoes in fall Victory Gardens this year if Congress were to act soon.

• The upcoming Fourth of July holiday also makes this initiative timely.

• The federal government's support of the grassroots Victory Garden revival through educational endeavors need not be costly. It's largely a matter of our reframing many of the above issues in such a way that the general public regards Victory Gardening as a logical, sound course of action.

• Consider providing a few links to articles and or web sites making the case for Victory Gardens. Try:

• http://www.redwhiteandgrewblog.com
  
• http://groups.ucanr.org/victorygrower/
  
• http://www.revivevictorygarden.org
  
• More sites can be found here

****DON'T forget to provide your name, phone number, city/state...and remember that short and to the point is more persuasive than a longer note. Email or traditional letters are fine.****

How to Contact Your Representatives:

• Your U.S. Representative (1): https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

• Your U.S. Senators (2): http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

More general tips on writing letters to Congress can be found here.

And while you're feeling politically active and engaged, sign on (if you haven't already) to ask our future president to Eat the View.

Feel free to forward this post to like-minded friends...just click on the tiny envelope at the bottom of this post...and be sure to report back in Comments to whom you've written. 

See that someone has already contacted your Reps? CONTACT THEM AGAIN. 

We need as many voices as we can get to make this happen.

Above image is in the public domain and downloadable from The National Archives.