Recently, a nursery in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, said that demand for fruit and vegetable seedlings is soaring due to rising prices and people trying to save grocery bills.
According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, if you go to the shelves of fresh produce in any major supermarket now, you will see that the average price of iceberg lettuce is around $6, which is more than double the price a few weeks ago.
Lettuce from supermarket shelves hill is empty (Image: Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Tomatoes have also become a new luxury, selling for more than $10 a kilogram in many supermarkets.
Unable to stand the soaring prices of once-affordable staple foods, more and more people are thinking about growing their own vegetables at home.
Formosa Gardens Nursery is a family business operated in Ballarat for 45 years. Its director, Katie Wright, said sales of vegetable and herbal seedlings have been on the rise over the past few weeks.
"The demand has definitely increased and people want to grow their own in order to save some money for their families," she said. ”
"In stores, online and on the phone, customers are asking if we are available and if they can buy more than one tray of seedlings at a time."
(Image source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Lou Ridsdale founded the charity Food is Free Inc in 2014 to promote food safety and education in the community.
One of the nonprofit's many initiatives is Food is Free Laneway, located on Ripon St Street, which gives community residents the opportunity to pick free produce and seeds grown by volunteers and learn how to grow them themselves.
Ridsdale said the roadway has seen "exponential" traffic growth over the past few months.
"We were overwhelmed, we had 100 visitors a day, which was crazy because it was a very small space," she said.
"Food is Free Laneway" (Credit: QBC)
Ballarat Community Garden, another non-profit organization, accepted Ms. Ridsdale's initiative to set up a free food table outside the gate of the premises located in Ballarat East.
Sheilagh Kentish, the group's president, said that so far, the community has respected the system and only taken what they need. "People passing by may also leave something behind... It's really a very loving thing. ”
With agricultural prices expected to remain high, Kentish said the group was growing produce such as edible rhubarb and silver beets for non-members outside the garden gates.
They also plan to expand the teaching of home gardeners. "We're preparing to have more workshops to help people grow crops in their backyards," she said. ”