There was rationing during WW1 and WW2 and the Great Depression.

There is a Supreme Court case, Fillburn: FDR sued a farmer for growing his own food (I forget which crop). His justification was that one farmer distorted crop prices

@kr I think you'd enjoy learning about permaculture. They call it food forests. Designing your property to produce life and also be beautiful. Basically a more systematic approach to gardening in the case you describe. We have some fruit trees in our yard and a few herbs. Also a garden.

The reason many want large yards is for a buffer from neighbors. The space to entertain. It is nice to have a large enough space to have outdoor parties. Also it is a status symbol for some. Others want the space for their pets. We really enjoy our yard. Spend a lot of time relaxing in it. We have a lot of trees and because of that many birds that are fun to watch. It helps us stay connected to the natural world.

I remember watching an Adam Curtis documentary (if you haven't every seen his work check it out) about the history of Islamic terrorism. I might get some of the details wrong but basically there was this Egyptian guy who came the U.S. in the 50s-60s and he was appalled by our culture. He had many beefs but the one that really surprised me was with lawns. I have never thought about lawns the same since. It was the essence of decadence to him. That people had so much wealth that the could afford to spend so much time, money, and care on grass. That they were so obsessed with appearances. He found it revolting. I'll try to find the documentary because it is one of his best ones (Adam Curtis)

there are studies on this! lawns arise as a symbol of wealth. In subsistence cultures, the well-to-do made a living without having to scramble for food. To show off that they didn't need to use the space productively, they planted lawns, and well.visible ones. It's a status symbol showcasing literal waste.

Many local cities, and even HOA's prohibit any form of vegetable or fruit in the front yard. Many such citations and lawsuits.

As for your back yard. US Regulations can also be weaponized against any citizen, because having a garden and producing your own produce - you are disrupting commerce, by not participating in commerce.. You may also be altering waterways, or hoarding rain-water with catch-barrels. Land of the free! <Insert Drooling+Dented brain picture here>

Assuming property ownership was a reality - I'm glad people can use the land in anyway they see fit. As long as the property owner is able to do this while not directly & adversely affecting neighbors (odors, pests, runoff). If you can afford the water bill, or have your own well - do what ever TF you want. Just the same as you likely see Bitcoin as a valid use of electricity.

I grew up in a small mountain town where only a handful of houses had lawns. I'm going to guess that they're a vestige of when homes used to have their own grazing animals. The animals are gone, but the aesthetic has persisted.

Now, I live in a suburban neighborhood that's all lawns. I'm trying to gradually convert ours into flower beds and gardens, but with our HOA I have to do it very incrementally.

Front lawn is purely aesthetic. Back lawn is for dog and kids. Lots of usage. I suppose if you eliminated front lawns you could build multi family shoeboxes instead of single family homes on the same lot but then people would live in multi family shoe boxes.

Just move out of the city.

Generations of building new buildings in already cleared pasture, we equate it in our genetic memory as "the hometead".

It wasn't a problem with 1/8th the population, when every inch powered livestock. Now they are, in most cases, but a comforting souvenir from a different time.

The lawn hate is so trendy but they are fantastic. If you own a bit of land then a lawn is a very useful thing - kids, dogs, sports, etc all benefit. If you don't mow you will end up with pasture, which can be OK but still needs a lot of work to keep free of things like burdock, wild parsnip and other undesirables taking over. If you do nothing, you will end up with land that is truly not of any use and looks bad.

If you live in the burbs and only have a postage stamp then maybe it's a waste but the idea that your land should be productive is a strange one. You as the owner make it productive with lots of effort so a trade-off is made. If you own a couple acres or more you likely will not want it all to be "productive" but will want it attractive and easy to keep that way.

I'm all for biodiversity (I love real prairies ) But lawns are beautiful and easier to maintain than a prairie.

the french royals wanted to show just how stupid rich and pompous they were, so they took the typical utility of land and purposely made it uselessly aesthetically pleasing. It caught on because of pride and fomo, and here we are centuries later... if it seems stupid, it was more than likely the french. Never trust the french, trust me, i'm french ;)

Well, I would say that this is quite common in Europe especially in the central and east parts, and in rural regions; were used for gardening in the past but not that much anymore. I guess, Asian countries are the total opposite. Once I was telling my Japanese friend about my back then new apartment that had some 44m2 and he was like ‘why do you need so big place?’, lol.

You need the front lawn to attract kids so you can yell at them "get off my lawn" when you get old. Circle of life.

Here is my thought trail through this idea of how and why lawns persist in the US:

My mother in law has lived her whole life in rural China. The first question she asked when visiting Australia was "why aren't they growing vegetables?"

I guess for some neighborhoods they like the look of a nice green grass out the front of the house. It is a symbol of wealth I guess, but I don't think people think that deeply about it. They are just doing what everyone around them does.

Gardens are ongoing maintenance too, that some would find worth it and some wouldn't. I'm just surprised so few don't find it worth it. I'd think that it would at least be more popular to lay down sand and pebbles and ponds and cactus gardens and dirt paths and bushes and trees that don't require much upkeep, instead of the common swaths of... grass

My answer to your initial question, at least as it pertains to front lawns, is that in America we afford drive-by shooters a sporting chance.

As for backyards, I must point you to the high-ranking that barbecue has among our favorite and patriotic pastimes.

In all seriousness though, the unused real estate between dwelling structures gives a sense of autonomy and privacy and power ("look at the land I own!"). I would venture to guess that the reason we do not convert our lawns into gardens often enough is because we clasp onto that image of traditional real estate wealth, and a very practical reason: gardening takes time and skill and an attention span that we have been willing to forfeit.

I don't know, but I like my lawn! I like taking care of it.

Lawns are the least maintenance option. Grass roots hold dirt in place to prevent soil erosion and dust in the air. Maintaining a lower relative temperature than the heat island effect of paving yards with concrete. Lawns are the worst option in terms of addressing climate change storing lowest quantities of carbon per acre/hectare. Thanks to globalism and offshoring of agricultural labor, we've enjoyed historically low food production costs for consecutive decades. There was not much incentive to consider repurposing land for food production purposes. But perhaps with recent market shifts, we may see a more widescale reexamination of our chosen cultural norms.

Lawns provide a nice little bit of privacy between you and your neighbors.

counterpoint: bocce makes for great lawn fun, and can be played on almost all lawns

imo canadians and americans should consider adopting bocce as a national sport and pivoting away from the surging interest in pickleball.

Oh, shut the fuck up already! Who the hell cares about your stupid lawns and gardens? You're just another self-absorbed asshole trying to find meaning in something as trivial as landscaping. Why don't you focus on more important issues instead of whining about your goddamn front and back yards? People spend their hard-earned money on these properties, and if they want to maintain a beautiful lawn or grow some damn fruits and veggies, that's their business. So stop judging others and mind your own fucking business!