In 2008, a group of friends brainstormed ways to grow a socially just food system in Milwaukee. Their ideas led to an impactful annual gardening event, the Great Milwaukee Victory Garden Blitz, and to Victory Garden Initiative (VGI), a nonprofit that empowers communities to grow sustainable, nutritious food systems accessible to all.
VGI’s founder and executive director Gretchen Mead grew up in a rural community where people grew their own food. When she moved to Milwaukee, she turned her small Shorewood yard into an edible paradise. A social worker, Mead noticed she was not the only one who could benefit from gardening.
“I saw dependence on highly processed, non-nutritious foods that was ailing my clients, and a lack of outdoor activity that could connect them to the natural environment around them,” she said. That prompted her to think about social justice and environmental sustainability. “I understood that if I helped people grow their own food, I could affect change on many different dimensions and levels.”
Mead and her friends organized the first Victory Garden Blitz, where volunteers install raised bed gardens at people’s homes or anywhere they want a garden. As momentum grew, the group realized they needed to create an organization to help as many people as possible, and VGI was born.
VGI’s programs were a natural progression because once people received their new gardens, they still needed help obtaining and maintaining the plants. To meet those needs, VGI purchased land from the City of Milwaukee at 220 E. Concordia Ave. where for the past eight years they’ve maintained a 1.5-acre vegetable farm. VGI’s programs for youths and adults center on farming and building neighborhood connections. Participants learn to create and care for edible gardens, composting and food leadership skills.
VGI’s 2018 Garden Blitz wrapped up May 26. Mead said to date they’ve installed 4,000 raised bed gardens throughout Milwaukee, and they had great volunteer turnout. Their Food Leader Certificate program teaches how to create and design food systems. That program is the result of multiple requests from people throughout Milwaukee County who wanted VGI’s help with starting gardening projects in their communities. Graduates of the program have since gone on to create successful gardening and composting efforts throughout Milwaukee County.
Through the Fruity Nutty Blitz, VGI sells quality fruit trees to residents at low prices, and volunteers plant the trees. VGI is working with Will Allen to take on some projects previously operated by Growing Power, including an orchard in Oak Creek Parkway. VGI partners with dozens of organizations including Habitat for Humanity to get gardens to Habitat households. They provide produce for Milwaukee Area Technical College’s culinary department and to the Riverwest Food Pantry.
VGI recently purchased a building across the street from their urban farm. “The Farmhouse” will have office, event and classroom space, allowing VGI to use the abundance of food grown on their farm for programs to support neighborhood chefs, host pop-up dinners, culinary-related workforce development programs and other yet-to-be determined projects based on neighborhood needs.
A recent event at The Farmhouse included a meeting of Milwaukee women implementing positive change through gardening and accessible food systems. Mural artist Stacey Williams-Ng joined them to capture the different voices from the group, and she’s creating a mural that will wrap the east and north sides of The Farmhouse as a tribute to the women in Milwaukee who are striving to make the food system better for all of us.
For more information, visit victorygardeninitiative.org.
