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. PLEASE SIGN UP AT THIS LINK & AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS (growing food is hard and we want you to be successful!): www.CoopGardens.org

Description 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)

Researcher background I'm one of the co-founders of EFN. My bio can be found in the "About" page.

Are you seeking volunteer growers or other types of volunteers? Yes, seeking volunteer growers

How many volunteers do you need? 50000000

What will you ask volunteers to do? We are urging all people with the ability to do so to plant a garden with fruits, vegetables, grains, and oilseeds, and to use it to help feed themselves and their communities (or possibly nearby communities). We are urging commodity crop farmers to grow more edible grains and vegetables this year. We are also asking those with resources (seeds, soil/compost, tools, tillage equipment, money, paid employment, land for growing food on, etc) to make those resources available to people who lack them. In addition, we will surely need more help coordinating this effort. This project page is merely informational: Please sign up at CoopGardens.org to get involved!

Other requirements of volunteers? Sign up at CoopGardens.org!

Is this a multi-year project? Yes

Can volunteers expect to be able to keep some germplasm (seeds, bulbs, cuttings, spores, etc) at the close of the project? Yes, of course

Anything else? This is a moment when we simply cannot rely on the government and existing power structures to get us through. The only people we can rely on are ourselves.