Cooperative Gardens Commission (CGC) started in March 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic CGC is a decentralized collective of volunteers working to increase community food production, resource-sharing, and food sovereignty especially in communities that were struggling before the pandemic.
Due to the lack of fresh healthy food, and limited access to food and seed sources, CGC initiated a “Call to Action” for farmers, gardeners, seed keepers, seed savers and entrepreneurs, Black, Indigenous, and Peoples of Color (BIPOC), and displaced workers. The call was to come together in order to create a sustainable regenerative way to create seed hubs and share educational resources to communities on a national, and now international, level.
Our grassroots development took root! Individuals and organizations use these distributed resources in ways that suit specific needs of their communities. The overall goal of CGC is to empower local movements toward food security by creating a network of food growers through gardening and farming. Our goal is to grow these networks into resilient communities that are healthier, more vibrant, and interconnected.
Now is the time for a dedicated, collective effort to cultivate as much nutrient dense food as possible. Globally, the number of people approaching starvation rose 40% in the last year, from 135 to 270 million, according to a UN special session in December 2020, the first ever to address a pandemic, in which food security and humanitarian needs were deemed a priority. “Famine is literally on the horizon,” said David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Programme.
To date CGC has provided free seeds to an estimated 12,000 gardens via 257 local seed hubs in 41 states.
In the Press
September 2020
Sep 2nd 2020 — Eater.com — Eater: Mutual Aid Groups Reckon With the Future: ‘We Don’t Want This to Just Be a Fad’ — Of course, being able to produce your own food with consistency is the most secure thing.
April 2020
April 30, 2020 — Frankly Speaking, Corning NY — Nate Kleinman joins Frank Acomb on “Frankly Speaking” to discuss Cooperative Gardens Commission, a grassroots movement (formerly known as “Corona Victory Gardens”) to share resources and get millions of people to grow food for themselves and their communities in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
April 30, 2020 — WHYY — Make your pandemic garden bloom: Free resources, online supply stores and more
April 28, 2020 — Slate.com, How to Grow Your Own Food — Even if you’ve never gardenedApril 28, 2020 — Foodtank.com, Nate Kleinman and Albie Miles on Community Food Sovereignty During COVID-19
April 27, 2020 — The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly garden activists are shipping millions of seeds to a nation fretting over food access during coronavirus pandemic
April 22, 2020 — NJ.com, Garden State of mind: N.J. gardeners defy pandemic to plant seeds, gather hope (and food)
April 10, 2020 — New York Times, ‘If All the Stores Close, We Need Food’: Community Gardens Adapt to the Pandemic | Around the United States, local growing operations are offering fresh produce and socially distanced outdoor time.
April 9, 2020 — GRID Philly, Grow Hope, Not Fear
April 6, 2020 — Washington Post, How to grow your own food in a modern-day victory garden
April 3, 2020 — HuffPost, How The Coronavirus Pandemic Has Led To A Boom In Crisis Gardening | Empty shelves at the supermarket have led to a rush on seed supplies as people start planting fruits and vegetables in their homes and backyards.
April 3, 2020 — Over the Fence Urban Farm, Victory over the virus farming report
April 2, 2020 — Civil Eats, The Moment for Food Sovereignty is Now | From panic planting to cooperative gardens, farmers focused on equity and food justice know that ‘if you can feed yourself, you can free yourself.’
March 2020
March 30, 2020 — CBS2 News (NYC local), Coronavirus Update: More People Growing ‘Victory Gardens’ For Food And Stress Relief
March 27, 2020 — Politico, ‘Victory gardens’ born out of coronavirus pandemic
March 27, 2020 — Philadelphia Inquirer, It’s time to rethink how you shop for food | Opinion
March 25, 2020, New York Times, Food Supply Anxiety Brings Back Victory Gardens | Americans were once urged to plant in every patch of available soil — and produced about 40 percent of the nation’s fresh vegetables.
Releases
