Dig For Victory

During WWII Edinburgh embraced the wartime Dig for Victory campaign to combat food shortages. By the height of WWII, the city had given over almost 300 acres for cultivation. War had a big impact on the world’s food.

 Before the Second World War Britain imported approximately 55 million tonnes, or 3/4 of the country's food by ship each year. In England and Wales arable acreage was about 9 million; whereas 16 million acres were under grass and a further 5 ½ million was “rough grazing” (once reasonable pasture). One acre of permanent grass (for animal fodder) fed 1 or 2 people; one acre sown with wheat fed 20 people, and one acre sown with potatoes fed 40 people. Nationally, some 6 ½ million new acres were ploughed up between 1939 and 1944. Harvests of wheat, barley and potatoes increased by over 100%; milking cows increased by 300,000; other cattle by 400,000. This was at the expense of fewer sheep, pigs and poultry but enabled the country to completely reverse its reliance on foreign food. In terms of calories, the net output had been quadrupled by 1943-44. By the end of the war, food imports had been reduced from 22 million to 11 million tons and Britain was producing well over 60% of its food. This was despite losing nearly 100,000 skilled male farm workers, who went off to fight, and thanks to the 117,000 women who replaced them. From 815,000 allotments in 1939 the number rose to 1,400,000 by 1943. allotments were estimated to contribute some 1.3 million tonnes of food produce.

Experts from The Botanic Gardens were dispatched to issue advice to growers. 512 allotments sprung up across The Meadows, with a concentration of gardeners working on the east side of the park. Allotments also appearing in Balgreen Park, Bruntsfield Links and Joppa Quarry with parts of Craigentinny Golf Course also turned over to vegetable production. Allotment holders were encouraged to grow crops such as leeks and kale, with a drive for gardeners to plant potatoes in 1948 as wartime rationing continued to pinch households.

The number of allotments fell away in Scotland following the end of WWII from around 90,000 at the peak of the Dig for Victory campaign to 36,000 plots.

A key part of a socialist society would be a serious reduction in the working week and there would be the release of land from commerce. This would free up large quantities of time for participation in newly available allotments.