Ryan Herink
Mr. Jackson McNally
Pre-IB Adv. US History
11 April 2023
“Food Will Win the War”, how Iowan farms flourished with the help of POW prisoners Iowa and the Iowan people played a huge role during World War Two not only on a statewide scale but a national scale too. The use of farming flourished due to the raw materials needed to fund the war, during this time new farming techniques came about that can still be seen today. It also is commonly known that Iowa was a hotspot for POW camps to appear and those camps had an ever-lasting effect on the Iowan communities that they were in. Iowans were heavily affected during WWII due to the resurgence and changing techniques of farming, and the use of POW camps and their effects on those communities.
…show more content…
But with the start of WWII, the need for rations and organic foods skyrocketed up until the point where farmers would need more than man labor to provide necessities for the soldiers. Then, the Food For Freedom program was established, which was first adopted by an Iowan farmer North of Madison County. This program allowed for farm work to be dictated by the government and allowed for the government to declare to farmers what they could and could not grow and harvest. Wallaces’ Farmer describes it as “The Food-for-Freedom program called for every farmer to put every acre of land, every hour of labor, every bit of farm machinery, fertilizer, and other supplies to the use that would best serve the nation's wartime needs.". The Food-for-Freedom program was the start of the comeback of farming and allowed for Midwestern farms and more specifically, Iowan farms to proliferate. In May 1942, Life magazine dedicated a part of their magazine to spring planting and particularly, Iowan spring planting. In that excerpt, they stated, “this year must bear the richest harvest in the world's troubled history." Life magazine then …show more content…
2023. "'An Enemy In The Heartland.' Professor Tells Story Of POW's Imprisoned In Iowa. ". KTVO.
"Dspace Angular Universal". 2023. Dr.Lib.Iastate.Edu. https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/entities/publication/507589c0-2347-4f10-91a2-563859b631ae.
Timm, Chad W. 2011. "Working With The Enemy: Axis Prisoners Of War In Iowa During World War II". The Annals Of Iowa 70 (3): 225-257. doi:10.17077/0003-4827.1554.
"World War II | Iowa PBS". 2023. Iowapbs.Org. https://www.iowapbs.org/iowapathways/mypath/2555/world-war-ii.
2023. Pwcampalgona.Org.