Grub not flowers, cremations not burials
-
-
“It is a public scandal that people still want to grow pretty gardens instead of something useful,” said Councillor A.H. Cooper, Chairman of Birmingham’s Allotments Committee, to the Evening Despatch on 7 April 1941. The reality of food shortages meant that the pre-war flower garden became an unwanted and unnecessary luxury as certain Birmingham councillors were keen to state.
In this article from the Birmingham Gazette 2 July 1941, Councillor Cooper was also alarmed by the considerable use of land space for burials during World War II which, in his view, should be used to grow more food. It was estimated that half a million pounds worth of food could be grown in the back gardens of Birmingham during the war.
Transcription:
Birmingham Gazette - 2.VII.1941
Cheaper Cremation in BirminghamAn amendment by Ald Sir Ernest Canning that the Parks Committee should consider the desirability of lowering the fees for cremation was accepted by Birmingham City Council yesterday.
Sir Ernest also urged that the methods of publicising the city's facilities for cremation should be improved.
Councillor AH Cooper declared that at a time when every acre of land was needed for the growing of food, it was alarming to think of the considerable areas used for burials.
