How The Japanese Interment Led To Victory Gardens

Did you know that the government’s Victory Gardens from World War II, where families were urged to grow their own food, was spurred by the interment of Japanese Americans? From The OC Register: “…[T]he San Francisco Museum…says Japanese truck farmers in California were responsible for a $40 million a year industry in fruits and vegetables. By March, 200,000 acres had been confiscated, sold off or given away to “non-Japanese” farmers mostly from Dust Bowl regions. Those farmers weren’t nearly as efficient or experienced at growing crops in California. Food and labor shortages followed…Although Japanese internment wasn’t mentioned in the report, a photo caption stated that the evacuation of the Japanese farmers resulted in shortages.” I had no idea of this affect but it only makes sense. Hopefully more people will understand how the internment camps had an impact on American society as a whole.

About Moye

I am a Japanese-American girl who was born, raised and is most probably stuck in traffic right this second in Los Angeles. I'm currently one of the co-editors of 8Asians and like to distract myself with good food, reading long books, playing video games, catching up on celebrity news, choosing my new new haircut and then writing all about it on Hello Moye and sometimes here on Twitter if I can get it in under 140 words or less. You can reach me at moye[at]8asians.com.
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