Alicia Abuliak’s community service class at the Mendocino K-8 School goes to the local Victory Garden at Stanford Inn every Wednesday. The Victory Gardens are a project meant to encourage everyone to farm.

On our first visit, we were greeted by Matt Drewno, the man in charge of the victory garden. He taught the class how the project works and how he and his team plan to achieve their goal.

The Victory Gardens project began during World War II when all the farmers had gone to war. Victory gardens were established so that all the communities could grow food. In the modern day, we have adapted this tactic to improve agriculture in the United States.

Matt and his team, which includes residents from Kenya, Africa, are working to find out how much food you can make by growing crops in 7000 square feet. He and his team measure this by weighing the amounts of the seeds produced to feed a single person per year with almost entirely just quinoa!

The Victory Gardens for Peace project was founded in 2009, and Mr. Drewno took over in 2010. Stanford Inn and Ecology Action fund the project. About 1,000-2,000 square feet of that 7,000 is used to make the perfect diet for your average person. 

Ecology Action has spread its reach worldwide, as Matthew Drewno, the head of the Victory Gardens, says: “Many networks of Biointensive Gardens and gardeners exist in faraway places across Europe, Africa, and South America. Over the last 50 years, people have been trained from over 150 countries globally, and the method has been proven in virtually all soils and climates where food can be grown.”
In the end, Victory Gardens for Peace is a worldwide project to improve agriculture around the planet. So many people have dedicated their time to helping communities in need, and I feel happy to know that my classmates and I are helping their cause. If you would like to support the cause of the Victory Gardens for Peace project, you can contact this email: matt@victorygardensforpeace.com.