Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 3/27/20

The outbreak has sparked a desire among people — many for the first time — to grow their own food, and they're flocking to garden stores to stock up on seeds and practical knowledge.

As the economy faltered and some grew worried about food security, Nate Kleinman, a farmer and community organizer, saw an opportunity to build a movement modeled after the wartime fruit and vegetable plots, The New York Times reports. During WWII, school and community gardeners produced close to 40 percent of the country's fresh vegetables, from about 20 million gardens.

Of course, there is no evidence the U.S. food supply is unstable — despite infamous shots of empty grocery store shelves shared across social media this month. But many have compared the coronavirus outbreak to a war-like experience, as people hunker down out of safety.

Whether it's out of a concern about food access, or just a new hobby to keep people occupied while quarantined, community gardening is booming. Since just last week when the Cooperative Gardens Commission was formed, Kleinman heard from more than 1,000 people interested in getting involved in community gardening.

"This is a rapidly forming collective that's organizing to help match resources to needs in the agriculture space, especially in community food production," Kleinman said Thursday on a call with participants, which are held biweekly for people to swap ideas and provide updates on the movement.

Seed stores across the country are reporting record-high sales. Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, based out of Mineral, Va., has seen an approximate 300 percent increase in orders since March 15. Rejoice Blackwood, an employee at Southern Exposure, said orders for spring and summer planting typically drop off at the end of March.

"Even though we aren't done with March yet, we are making many more dollars than we would have expected, and we were required to shut down our website for three days because our inventory couldn't keep up," Blackwood said.

High Mowing Organic Seeds in Vermont has had a similar experience. "It's been insane," said employee Sara Riegler, of the uptick in sales. "I've had way more conversations with folks who have never gardened before and want to get into it."