March 31, 2020
There has never been a better time to start gardening, If you have ever entertained the thought of growing your own food, the time has come. Right now, we are all overwhelmed with the waves of bad new that wash over our news feeds all day.
We need to unplug for a moment from the current crisis and turn our attention to the future. Not just the coming days and weeks, but the coming months. Chances are that if you have braved the circumstances and ventured to the grocery store, that you have seen the bare shelves. You may have heard politicians and CEOs try to reassure us that the supply chain is strong. For now.
It was only two days after the WHO formally classified the novel coronavirus a pandemic that it really sunk in for me. This crisis was real and this was going to affect my family whether I liked it or not. But I took back some control when I decided that I would ramp up my efforts to meet the challenge. That I would produce as much food as possible on my average suburban lot, including converting my front yard to food production.
Since I had that that epiphany, the Canadian government announced a $5 billion increase in lending capacity to farmers and food manufacturers. Canadian Farmers are worried. American farmers are concerned. Even the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN has concerns about our food security. A food crisis is looming, and I’m not the only one thinking about this.
Step back for a minute and think about it. People are having their movements restricted. They are social distancing, self-isolating, quarantining, getting sick, and even dying. This is going to have a profound impact on labor supply in any sector, agriculture and food manufacturing included, despite its essential services status. The fewer people available to work on the farms means crops are not going to be planted, crops are not going to be harvested. Crops that are not harvested or manufactured will go to waste. Transportation is being restricted. Borders are closing and people who are considered essential are thinking twice about their movements. We reply heavily on foreign sources of food. Think about the labels on your food. How much actually comes from your state, province, or country? We also rely heavily on foreign labor to produce, harvest, and manufacture our foods which are actually produced within our own country. Again, without the labor, we will have no crops. We will see supply dwindle and prices skyrocket. Do you think that you will get around it by buying shelf stable food instead of fresh produce? Guess what, that is also food that was grown as a crop, and it too will dry up. Yes, perhaps there are supplies currently stockpiled in warehouses ready to fill grocery store shelves, but how long will that last and will it be replenished?
Other people are clearly reflecting on these questions as well. Seed retailers are selling out and are backlogged for weeks. Nurseries are closing and some may not survive because non-essential businesses are closing their doors. Even if they do remain functionally open, customers are not permitted in their shops. You think you’ll just buy their nursery stock or seeds while they are not sure if they can weather this storm.
The concept of wartime Victory Gardens may be a distant memory, if you have even heard of them at all. Victory Gardens were born from the concept of improving food security for the general public. If people were to convert outdoor spaces (including gardens, public parks, rooftops, window boxes), it could alleviate the strain on the food supply chain. If able-bodied non-frontline people were to contribute to food production, then supplies could be redirected to those who need it most; people who are working as first responders, in healthcare, or in essential services, and people with physical limitations or illness. If we are all properly social distancing, we should be spending a lot more time at home. You can use your time
This is a call to action. If you have the ability to tend a garden of any size and if you have access to outdoor space, I would urge you to consider growing you own food, however modest. Plant tomatoes on in a window box or push a bean seed into the ground, and you will be surprised at how much food that you are able to grow with only a little bit of effort.
I hope I am wrong about all of this and that we will bounce back faster and more robustly than predicted. However, food takes time to grow. If we wait until it is too late, then we will be behind on this crisis just like we were behind on the pandemic itself. This concern may not manifest and you may grow you own produce while the stores remain plentiful. In the end, you will be able to congratulate yourself on learning a new skill and growing your own food.
There has never been a better time to start gardening, If you have ever entertained the thought of growing your own food, the time has come. Right now, we are all overwhelmed with the waves of bad new that wash over our news feeds all day.
We need to unplug for a moment from the current crisis and turn our attention to the future. Not just the coming days and weeks, but the coming months. Chances are that if you have braved the circumstances and ventured to the grocery store, that you have seen the bare shelves. You may have heard politicians and CEOs try to reassure us that the supply chain is strong. For now.
It was only two days after the WHO formally classified the novel coronavirus a pandemic that it really sunk in for me. This crisis was real and this was going to affect my family whether I liked it or not. But I took back some control when I decided that I would ramp up my efforts to meet the challenge. That I would produce as much food as possible on my average suburban lot, including converting my front yard to food production.
Since I had that that epiphany, the Canadian government announced a $5 billion increase in lending capacity to farmers and food manufacturers. Canadian Farmers are worried. American farmers are concerned. Even the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN has concerns about our food security. A food crisis is looming, and I’m not the only one thinking about this.
Step back for a minute and think about it. People are having their movements restricted. They are social distancing, self-isolating, quarantining, getting sick, and even dying. This is going to have a profound impact on labor supply in any sector, agriculture and food manufacturing included, despite its essential services status. The fewer people available to work on the farms means crops are not going to be planted, crops are not going to be harvested. Crops that are not harvested or manufactured will go to waste. Transportation is being restricted. Borders are closing and people who are considered essential are thinking twice about their movements. We reply heavily on foreign sources of food. Think about the labels on your food. How much actually comes from your state, province, or country? We also rely heavily on foreign labor to produce, harvest, and manufacture our foods which are actually produced within our own country. Again, without the labor, we will have no crops. We will see supply dwindle and prices skyrocket. Do you think that you will get around it by buying shelf stable food instead of fresh produce? Guess what, that is also food that was grown as a crop, and it too will dry up. Yes, perhaps there are supplies currently stockpiled in warehouses ready to fill grocery store shelves, but how long will that last and will it be replenished?
Other people are clearly reflecting on these questions as well. Seed retailers are selling out and are backlogged for weeks. Nurseries are closing and some may not survive because non-essential businesses are closing their doors. Even if they do remain functionally open, customers are not permitted in their shops. You think you’ll just buy their nursery stock or seeds while they are not sure if they can weather this storm.
The concept of wartime Victory Gardens may be a distant memory, if you have even heard of them at all. Victory Gardens were born from the concept of improving food security for the general public. If people were to convert outdoor spaces (including gardens, public parks, rooftops, window boxes), it could alleviate the strain on the food supply chain. If able-bodied non-frontline people were to contribute to food production, then supplies could be redirected to those who need it most; people who are working as first responders, in healthcare, or in essential services, and people with physical limitations or illness. If we are all properly social distancing, we should be spending a lot more time at home. You can use your time
This is a call to action. If you have the ability to tend a garden of any size and if you have access to outdoor space, I would urge you to consider growing you own food, however modest. Plant tomatoes on in a window box or push a bean seed into the ground, and you will be surprised at how much food that you are able to grow with only a little bit of effort.
I hope I am wrong about all of this and that we will bounce back faster and more robustly than predicted. However, food takes time to grow. If we wait until it is too late, then we will be behind on this crisis just like we were behind on the pandemic itself. This concern may not manifest and you may grow you own produce while the stores remain plentiful. In the end, you will be able to congratulate yourself on learning a new skill and growing your own food.
