Recommendations for Urban Agriculture and Community Gardening During COVID-19
Resources and recommendations for those growing food for themselves, their neighbors or others.
This document was compiled by leaders from Soil Generation, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Neighborhood Gardens Trust, the Garden Justice Legal initiative, and others with experience supporting urban agriculture in Philadelphia. Please use and share these resources with any gardeners and farmers you know in Philadelphia.
Recommendations for Community Gardens
- Continue growing food! Now more than ever we should be practicing local self-reliance and grow food for ourselves and the community.
Meetings
- If you have a garden meeting scheduled, do it by phone or web conferencing or simply post-pone. Gardens can easily open a free account with services like Zoom which can host up to 100 participants but limited to 40 minutes. If your site doesn’t have access to these technologies or needs help, let us know and we can gladly guide you or offer our support / conferencing services.
- Leverage other tech services like WhatsApp to spread awareness in appropriate languages to your clients, gardeners, etc.
Cleaning and Disinfecting
- Exercise an abundance of caution in the garden and follow these guidelines recommended by the CDC:
- Wear gloves and disinfect high-touch spots.
- Maintain social distance of six feet or more from others.
- Be mindful of frequently touched spots like gates, locks, water spigots, tools
- Plan a day to disinfect! Use diluted household bleach solutions, alcohol solutions with at least 70% alcohol or other EPA-approved products. Viruses can be relatively long-lasting in the environment and have the potential to be transferred via food or food contact surface
- Have hand sanitizer and soap readily available in the garden. Create a sanitizing station in the garden. If hand sanitizer isn’t readily available, consider making your own.
- Limit sharing. Consider bringing your own tools for the time being as well as posting signs in the garden for people to a) wear gloves and b) always sanitize equipment after use.
- This is a given, but thoroughly wash all produce you harvest from the garden!
Recommendations for Farm Stands & Farmers Markets
If you plan to sell or distribute food, consider the following or see PA Dept of Ag recommendations:
- Separation of duties – cash / card person separate from food person.
- Minimize processing – no sampling
- Sanitation of equipment
- Provide ample hand sanitizer, disinfectant, wipes for skin and surface and wash stations.
- Glove etiquette! Do not reuse gloves after touching high-risk surfaces.
- Consider alternative delivery or customer spacing
- Reinforce health benefits of fruits and vegetables
Resources for starting CSAs and other food delivery services
The following is a list of food delivery services and related software that work with farmers. If growers are interested in collaborating on group ordering, CSAs, or food hubs to serve their community and consumers with fresh food delivery, these may be useful tools. This list is also useful if you are looking to order deliveries of local produce.
LocalHarvest (to CSAs in your area)
Additional Resources
For additional information both local and beyond:
- FPAC- Connecting to Build a More Just Food System
- COVID-19 Resources for Farmers and Ag Service Provider Organizations
- FDA Coronavirus FAQs for Food Products
- Cornell Small Farms: Building Resilience in this Time of Crisis
- The Chronicle of Philanthropy: Responding to the Coronavirus Outbreak: Resources to Help Non-profits
- Coronavirus Communications: Examples, guidance, and resource for expanding the narrative
- Food & Land Sovereignty Resource List for COVID-19 (List compiled by Soul Fire Farm, Black Farmer Fund, and Northeast Farmers of Color) – a good list of resources including Philadelphia specific resources here.
- Coronavirus Resource Kit
- Philly Mutual Aid – Neighbors Helping Neighbors
- Looking to spread food access? Check out Philly Food Fooder and the City’s post.
- Complete the City’s survey: COVID-19 Impact on Workers
- Has your business been impacted by the pandemic? Take the survey from the City.
- Looking for grants or zero-interest loans for your business? Check out the Small Business Relief Fund while it’s still open from the City. FAQs here.
- NOTE: 3/27/20–Federal stimulus is becoming available via the SBA, with $377B earmarked for small businesses; stay tuned. More information from Congressman Dwight Evans office here. A legislative update is also available here. Also, tax filing deadlines are pushed back to 6/15 for both Federal and City (BIRT). More from the SBA.
- Agricultural Justice Project: Planning for Extra Care at your Farms: https://www.agriculturaljusticeproject.org/media/uploads/2020/03/25/Planning_for_Covid-19_on_the_Farm_FINAL_3.24.2020_OussGlm.pdf
Organizations that Can Help
For further questions, feel free to reach out to the following local organizations who may be of assistance.
- City of Philadelphia Parks and Recreation – Urban Agriculture Office
- Cooperative Gardens Commission – COVID-19 Victory Gardens
- Neighborhood Gardens Trust
- Pennsylvania Horticultural Society – communitygardens@pennhort.org
- Penn State Extension
- Philadelphia Orchard Project
- Public Interest Law Center
- Soil Generation
- Urban Tree Connection
This document is meant to be a living document of resources and recommendations for those growing food for themselves, their neighbors or others. If you would like to add a resource to this page, or if you see something on this page that appears to be inaccurate, please contact Anna Sophie Tinneny.