With Coronavirus Wrecking the Food Supply, People Are Turning to Urban Farming

Villano says that he finds that now he and his family are eating healthier and boosting their collective immune systems, which will hopefully help them throughout this pandemic and beyond.

By Andy Hirschfeld
Observer
05/08/20

Excerpt:

For consumers like New York City-based designer Jack Koloskus, that means now is the time to get into homesteading. “If there was ever a year it would be smart to be a little more prepared than usual, it’s this year,” Koloskus tells the Observer.

In the last month, Kolokus has ramped up his at-home food production, including rigging a 50-gallon trash can to grow root vegetables like potatoes and grows other assorted vegetables in planters throughout his apartment.

“Worst case scenario I have excess vegetables that I can give to friends who might need it or donate it to people who are food insecure for whatever reason that might be,” Kolokus says.

Aquasprouts, an Austin, Texas-based startup, best known for a fish tank contraption that mimics an ecosystem and allows users to grow vegetables, can verify that Kolokus is part of a growing trend.

“We’ve seen a 65 percent to 70 percent growth rate since February and are up 45 percent since last year,” founder and CEO Jack Ikard tells the Observer. “Sales now are mirroring the kind of thing we would see on Black Friday.” The aquaponics company has also seen a surge in sales abroad with new sales to Sweden and Hong Kong.

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