After food rationing was introduced in 1940, and German U-boats began threatening merchant shipping bringing in essential foodstuffs, the Ministry of Agriculture decided something had to be done to make the kitchens of Britain more self-sufficient. The result was an amazingly effective campaign—Dig for Victory—encouraging every citizen to cultivate vegetables. Here Daniel Smith tells the full story of how this collaboration had tangible benefits for the war effort as well as for the health of the nation.