Cooperative Gardens Commission

As the COVID-19 pandemic wreaks havoc around the world, economies are tanking, supply chains are being disrupted, and shortages of critical supplies and food items are already widespread. With borders shutting down, a lack of skilled migrant workers — who pick the vast majority of the fruits and vegetables we eat — along with other agricultural workers, all of whom are rightly afraid of getting sick or becoming a vector of transmission, may yet lead to a cascade of problems across the global food system. But a grassroots movement like ours (already over 1,000 strong in less than a week, with hundreds of organizers coordinating over national conference calls and laying the groundwork for a lasting movement) will have a role to play long after this crisis is over, because the pandemic was not the beginning of food insecurity and injustice for people in so many communities. EFN and our allies and colleagues are urging all people who can to establish "Cooperative Gardens" to grow as much food this year as they possibly can. This movement is organizing to help people provide themselves and their communities with healthy fresh food, reduce our reliance on the faltering industrial food system (which is terrible for the environment and human health even when fully functioning), and make it easier for folks to stay home or in their immediate neighborhoods and avoid transmission of the virus. Please join us! (Link above)