My husband is obsessed with organic gardening. With the addition of a greenhouse this year, not only should we have an abundant crop of tomatoes this summer, but we hope to eat fresh lettuce and carrots well into the winter.

Gardening is a popular pastime these days. According to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times, people all over the U.S. are rediscovering the joys and benefits of gardening.

Victory gardens were promoted by the U.S. government during World War II, as a way for Americans to cope with food shortages and aid the war effort. In 1943, over 20 million gardens were planted, producing 8 million tons of food. Private and public businesses pitched in with ordinary citizens, planting gardens on school property, in city parks, on rooftops, and in tiny backyards.

Today, eco-conscious consumers want local produce that hasn’t been shipped thousands of miles. With tighter budgets, more people are taking their food into their own hands, literally. Those without property are joining community-sponsored pea patches, sharing backyard garden plots with neighbors, or planting windowsill herb gardens. According to Mel Bartholomew, author of Square-Foot Gardening: A new way to garden in less space with less work, you can enjoy fresh food no matter how small a space you have.

As newlyweds, we were apartment-dwellers – but my husband grew carrots, tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce, radishes, and parsley in containers on our pocket-sized deck. Now that we have a house and small patch of land, he also grows raspberries, squash, onions, garlic, artichokes, green beans, pumpkins, cabbage, potatoes,  peas, bell peppers, tomatillos, eggplants, and culinary herbs.

One of the best things about gardening is knowing who and what has touched your food and how fresh it is. We enjoyed our first crop of sugar pumpkins last fall, and savored pumpkin pie made from fresh pumpkin puree instead of canned – the difference was unbelievable.

Our children benefit not only from the good nutrition and flavor derived from fresh produce, but the life lessons they absorb by participating in the life of the garden. Planting seeds and tending them teaches patience. Working hard today to reap benefits several months down the road teaches perseverance and delayed gratification. Enjoying juicy strawberries they planted and harvested themselves produces a sense of satisfaction and self-efficacy that is hard to beat. And growing up in a family where food production is the norm is equipping them to do the same with their own families some day.

Americans are hungry for high-quality, environmentally-conscious, affordable food. What would happen if U.S. government and businesses put even a fraction of the effort into promoting gardening that they did during World War II? What if more people grew a portion of their own food? Would we become a healthier, happier nation? It’s certainly worth considering.