Freedom garden

The phrase "freedom garden" was a term that was formed from the "victory gardens" of World Wars One and Two. The term is used to describe household or community gardens which are meant to offset costs brought on by traveling to and purchasing of fruits and vegetables from the local grocery store. Its first known use is from a group of politically aware friends who first became acquainted in 2007, then established their first unofficial meeting by the end of that year at a friend's house in Palm Harbor, Florida. Choosing the title of "The Free Pinellas Constituency" or "The Constituents Of Free Pinellas", their meetings took place every week over a four month period where topics of politics, community, environment, and economics were discussed.
Freedom gardens are a separate idea from victory gardens, in that, they are not a direct marketing campaign to conserve national resources nor is the idea orchestrated by the government like victory gardens were in the First and Second World Wars. Freedom gardens are a means for individual citizens to protect themselves from inflation and possible food scarcities in the event of a national catastrophe; they are not needed as a direct result of the current wars being fought currently like victory gardens were during the campaign fought in the European and Pacific theatres. The only similarity is the fact that they are gardens in public and private plots not normally designated for such use. The actual act of planting and growing vegetables is similar, but the driving idea behind is fear of an internal unknown rather than fear of the external foreign factors.
The first use of the term was during a discussion between the Constituents about the state of the economy and political climate at the time. This topic of economic downturn was brought up through the research of one of the members on topics such as: The Federal Reserve, inflation, peak oil, and the banking policies and business practices of stated income loans and mortgage-backed securities; all of this information was found almost a full year before the stock market crash of August 2008. The idea of a local food source seemed to be a good alternative should the economy turn drastically worse.
The reason for the freedom gardens first consideration within the group was for an "end of times" plan which included investments in: gold, durable goods like generators, renewable energy goods like solar panels, and land for food and shelter; also included, was a community organization plan which was meant to repair the divisions brought on by the lack of social bonding, perceived by at least one of the Constituents.
Since the economic downturn, groups have formed around community gardening projects and "freedom gardens". These groups include people offering tips on how to garden vegetables, blogs on their own endeavors, and even a social networking site dedicated to the practice. The group know as Free Pinellas was not the only group to use the term, but there is a newsletter outline which shows its objectives.
The principle of the freedom gardens savings of both the environment and consumer spending still exist and are enduring with the independent onset of citizens’ interest in permaculture and ecologically friendly living. The original Constituents Of Free Pinellas have since lost contact, but their blog can be found under the guidance of the first member.

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