The first and second world wars caused a rise in patriotism as people across the country sought to contribute to the war effort. Away from the trenches and on the home front, in true Hoosier fashion faculty, students and the Bloomington community rose admirably to the challenge to meet the very pressing issue of wartime food consumption.
During the Great War hundreds of students (including two women) withdrew from coursework to plant the spring crop on local farms while others planted gardens to supply the kitchens of the dormitories. With the Second World War these movements and effects lingered for much longer. The community dutifully endured the rationing of meat and sugar, endeavored to prevent food waste through preservation, and hundreds of University faculty, coaches, staff, students and even the fifth grade class of the University School signed up for victory garden plots on campus or even went to the extent to plow under their own yards.
Drawing from the extensive collections of the Indiana University Archive as well as the IU Libraries, the exhibit with include wartime photographs, newspaper coverage, correspondence and sketches documenting the mobilization of wartime food production at Indiana University.