Making locals through local agriculture: citizenship and urban gardens in Rock Island, Illinois, 1913-2018

ABSTRACT

Our research explores the historical continuities and changes in urban gardening through a case study of a small post-industrial city in the Midwest. We argue that although the recent interest in urban gardening is unique in some ways, it follows previous garden initiatives in many of its approaches and goals. While urban agriculture was most visible during political and economic crises in the early and mid-20^th century, it has been a constant presence in the city even as the location of gardens and farms have shifted. Settlement house gardens, Victory Gardens, and community gardens today all share a common logic that promotes solutions to poverty by expanding access to healthy foods and green spaces while seeking to improve individual behaviors in marginalized neighborhoods. At the same time, local food movements have always been shaped by understandings of community and citizenship at scales beyond the local. While gardening programs have often failed to acknowledge the deep-seated factors that produce food insecurity, we suggest that present-day local food initiatives offer the possibility of a more inclusive food system based on embodied relationships with agriculture and place, both in the city and beyond.

KEYWORDS:

• Urban gardening
• urban planning
• environmental history
• citizenship
• local food

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. French & Hecht Ad, The Arsenal Record 2, no. 2 (May 1943): 25; Blue Cross Ad, The Arsenal Record 2, no. 4 (September 1943): 8; Hanssen’s Victory Garden Seed Store Ad and Farmall International Harvester Ad, The Arsenal Record 3, no. 1 (April 1944): 23 & back cover; Lagomarcino-Grupe Company Ad, The Arsenal Record 3, no. 6 (September 1944): 37.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Augustana College [Augustana Research Foundation Grant].

Notes on contributors

Brian J. Leech

Brian Leech is an Associate Professor of History at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. His teaching and research interests center on the social and environmental history of the modern U.S. Much of his research explores natural resource industries, including his book The City that Ate Itself: Butte, Montana and Its Expanding Berkeley Pit (University of Nevada Press, 2018). He is currently researching the history of food in the Midwest.

Christopher Strunk

Christopher Strunk is an Associate Professor of Geography at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. His teaching and research interests include urban geography and planning, international migration and immigration policy, and Latin America. His research has explored immigrant advocacy networks and migrant incorporation in the United States, and Bolivian hometown associations in Washington D.C. and Cochabamba. He is currently researching refugee foodways and gardening policies in the Midwest.