Philanthropist Charles Lathrop Pack
In The American Tradition Of Offering Charity
Shortly before the United States entered World War I in early 1917, Charles Lathrop Pack, a wealthy timberman from a family long involved in Michigan forestry, spearheaded efforts to aid with Europe’s food shortage by organizing the National War Garden Commission, a program that encouraged nationwide participation from Americans of all ages to grow their own produce with home gardens.
As the United States government developed and distributed war garden pamphlets to teach novice gardeners about soil, compost, crops and how to assemble cold frames, gardens began blooming across backyards, public parks and schoolyards. Schoolchildren, known as “Soldiers of the Soil,” contributed 3 million new garden plots in 1917 and more than 5.2 million the following year.
The War Gardens of America produced food “which helped establish the balance of power between starvation and abundance” in Europe during the final two years of the war.
Source, @nationalwwimuseum