Digging for victory. Class victory.

It seems that the Soil Association, freaked out by concerns over the new buzz phrase "food security", are to launch a new Dig for Victory campaign. The original wartime Dig for Victory has always interested me. By the end of the war there were 1.5 million allotments providing over half of the nations fruit and veg. In the face of the German U boat blockade, years of agricultural decline and reliance on cheap imports from the empire had to be reversed. Every available piece of land was put to good use. It has always struck me as an example of what can be achieved when the economy is geared to NEED rather than mere profit. In fact we could all do with being reminded from time to time that during the war "profiteer" was a term of abuse.
This new Dig for Victory campaign has radical potential, but it is only potential. Chances that the media will big it up for a while, celebrity gardening experts will explain how to grow aubergines in the bath and the whole thing will be recouped by the market, reducing us to mere bit players in the spectacle of self-sufficiency. The other option is that we force local authorities to fulfil their obligations under the Allotments Act and provide plots for the estimated 100,000 on the waiting lists. In London alone there are thousands of acres of land that could be used for food production. The back garden of Buck House for starters.