Kim filling an envelope with cherry tomato seeds that will be sent out. Other seeds include Brussels sprout, aji pepper and melon seeds.
One afternoon two weeks ago, at a table in the back of West Philadelphia’s Making Worlds bookstore, Kate Illes shook aji pepper seeds into hand-labelled envelopes. In a comfortable chair near a section on prisons and oppression, Nathan Kleinman bundled Brussels sprout seeds. And, over by the front desk, Trika Parasimo meted out melon seeds.
This makeshift assembly line is the US-wide hub of the Cooperative Gardens Commission. Inconspicuous though it may be, it’s the epicentre of a new food gardening movement born from this moment of scarcity – as Americans have seen grocery store shelves stripped bare by panic buying and viral photos of zucchini rotting in the field for want of distribution channels – and as millions of unemployed are suddenly staring down abundant free time, looming food insecurity, and a deep craving to be outdoors.
