Detroit public schools instructed students on planting home gardens. Newspapers printed frost warnings and other garden news; the Detroit Free Press awarded 500-dollar war bonds to those urban gardeners with the best garden plots. By the end of 1942 Detroit supported 1,000 gardens. The number increased to 5,000 the following year, with 800,000 victory gardens statewide. An estimated 20 million victory gardens were producing about 40 percent of all American vegetables by 1945.
Michigan's Cooperative Extension Service (CES), headquartered at the Michigan Agricultural College (present-day Michigan State University) in East Lansing, mounted programs in food preservation, canning clinics and victory gardens. Nutrition for Defense sessions were held to train women to shop wisely, plan nutritious meals and conserve food that could later be diverted to resolve nationwide shortages. Home economists worked under the slogan "Food Will Win the War." In their 1944 annual report, CES food specialists estimated that Michigan's rural homemakers had canned 170 million quarts of food. "Conservative calculations," the report proudly claimed, "would indicate the total cash value of food stored at over $92 million or $164 per family."
CES food assistants set up shop in farmers' markets in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Pontiac and Royal Oak to counsel shoppers in food preservation and canning. Upper Peninsula agents held nearly 200 training meetings on food preservation, whereas in one year, "cooperators canned 169,433 quarts of fruits, 138,522 of vegetables and 12,912 of meats and fish."
America's wartime health probably improved with rationing. The government urged people to give up their large portions of red meat and fats and eat wisely from the basic 7 food groups--green and yellow vegetables; citrus fruits, tomatoes and salad greens; other vegetables and fruits; milk and dairy products; poultry, fish, eggs and nuts; breads and cereals; and fats.
After 3 years of "use it all; wear it out; make it do; or go without," World War II came to a welcome end. Price controls and rationing did not end until 1946, though shortages continued across the country. As Americans adjusted to the hard-won peace, their consumption of meat, butter and sugar rose. In 1946 per capita consumption of meat reached 154 pounds, 85 pounds of which were beef. Vegetables again came from the grocer, not the garden; more butter than margerine was sold; and sugar sales increased as dessert was once again served at lunch and dinner.
