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Victory Gardens 2008+
(VG2008+) is a program of Garden for the Environment and the City of San Francisco's Department for the Environment. A two-year pilot project to support the transition of backyard, front yard, window boxes, rooftops and unused land into organic food production areas, Victory Gardens 2008+ derives its title from, and build on, the successful nationwide Victory Garden programs of WWI and WWII. Victory Gardens 2008+, however, redefines "Victory" in the pressing context of urban sustainability. "Victory" is growing food at home for increased local food security and reducing the food miles associated with the average American meal.
Victory Gardens 2008+ was ideated by San Francisco based artist and designer Amy Franceschini in the Fall of 2006, for which she received the 2006 SECA award from the SF MOMA. Amy Franceschini partnered with Garden for the Environment for the planting of three initial Victory Gardens, and to develop and operate a citywide Victory Gardens program in San Francisco.
Backyard Victory Gardens (Current)
In 2008, Victory Gardens will install at least 15 pilot urban organic food gardens in San Francisco. Participation in the pilot program includes a multi-year commitment to the pilot program and a specified number of public Victory Garden tour dates. Once chosen, Victory Garden staff will install, and support, each Victory Garden. Through public outreach and education programs, VG08+ aims to create a community of urban food producers. Additionally, Victory Gardens is assembling data on the location and productive potential of urban land through the program’s City Garden Registry.
Demonstration Victory Garden (Current)
Victory Gardens has developed a demonstration of the productive potential of small urban spaces for growing organic food at the Garden for the Environment, located at 7th Ave and Lawton Streets in San Francisco. Please stop by Wed 11AM-2PM to talk urban food with our Backyard Victory Garden Manager, Brooke Budner.
Urban Food Growing Workshops (Summer, Fall 2008)
Victory Garden and Garden for the Environment staff will host regular workshops on organic horticulture, with the specific goal of increasing gardeners’ capacity to successfully grow their own food in San Francisco’s challenging Mediterranean climate. Workshops will be targeted to the pilot program participants, however workshops will be open to the public.
City Hall Victory Garden (Summer, 2008)
During the summer of 2008, the Victory Gardens program is creating a quarter-acre, edible, ornamental landscape in front of San Francisco’s City Hall. The garden concept is a ‘Living Quilt’ of people and plants, a garden of community. In partnership with Slow Food Nation, City Slickers Farms in West Oakland, and numerous partners, we will garden, educate, and produce food for those most in need in the city. Groundbreaking is July 1st, the first community planting day will be held July 12th, the Slow Food Nation Event is August 29 – September 1st, and in mid-September the garden will be harvested, and the organic produce that we have grown over the course of the summer will be donated to the Glide Daily Meals and other City food service programs.
San Francisco Victory Garden City Farm Program (Future)
The SFVG City Farm program builds on the legacy of the Victory Gardens from the First and the Second World Wars and reinvents the original concept to meet contemporary needs – building community around local food production, providing food for the poor, mitigating the environmental impact of our current food system, and enhancing San Francisco’s food security & emergency preparedness. The project strategy is to create a network CSA model that maximizes productivity of urban lands while coordinating volunteerism and stewardship.
| Support for Victory Gardens+ |
The San Francisco Victory Garden program has received generous support from the following individuals and organizations:
Matt Gonzalez, former President, Board of Supervisors, City of San Francisco
Jared Blumenfeld, Director, Department of the Environment, City of San Francisco
Aaron Peskin, President, Board of Supervisors, City of San Francisco
Astrid Haryati, Greening Director, City of San Francisco
Department of the Environment, San Francisco
Studio for Urban Projects
Slow Food Nation
CMG Landscape Architecture
The Edible Schoolyard
The Fleishhacker Foundation
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