Uncertain times has spurred next generation to grow their own food

Spring is always one of my favorite times of year as we observe newborn calves prancing in green grass and farmers firing up their planters. But for me, it’s also the time of year I think about starting my own food production, usually by planting seeds inside for transplanting later.

Growing up on an Iowa farm, I always enjoyed helping my mother plant and maintain a fairly large garden and keep fresh homegrown food on our table. And let’s face it, it was a wonderful way to save on the grocery bills, too.

I don’t have as much sunny space as I did then, but I still manage to find room for a few tomatoes, peppers, green beans, peas, cucumbers, spinach, basil, and cilantro. For me, there’s nothing better than being able to walk out my front door and harvest a big, tasty homegrown tomato in the summertime.

However, when I talk to many non-farm consumers, I feel like I’m a dying breed, practicing the ancient art of gardening. I’m one of the exceptions in a generation of baby boomers who still find the time, space and resources to plant their own food garden. In fact, I have some younger friends who have never planted anything edible in their entire lifetime and seem fearful to do so. That prompted me to launch the “Great Tomato Challenge” in California, where we asked lawmakers to compete for the best looking tomato in exchange for a $1,000 donation to a food bank of their choice.

But there are signs that the downward trend has started to reverse. I recently visited with Mike Sutterer, the president and CEO of Bonnie Plants, the largest United States grower and supplier of vegetable, herb and ornamental plants for consumers. (He donated “Early Girl” tomato plants for our Great Tomato Challenge competition.)

Sutterer shared that, starting about 2010, there was “a lot of hand wringing” about what would happen when the baby boomers age out of the gardening category.

“The younger consumers weren’t really engaging at the same level, they weren’t buying homes at the same level as in the past, and all those sorts of demographic things worked against the gardening category,” Sutterer said.

But COVID changed all of that in 2020, which coincidentally was the year he became president and CEO.

“It brought all those new consumers into the category. And it also really accelerated home ownership amongst millennials in particular,” Sutterer added.

The aging out of the baby boomers is still happening. But Sutterer said, “what’s great for the horticulture space and for gardening in general, is those younger consumers who’ve gotten into it because of COVID, are sticking around.”

That was especially good news for Bonnie Plants, which sells in retail stores in 49 of the 50 states, excluding Hawaii. The company was previously a wholly owned subsidiary of the Alabama Farmers Cooperative, based in Union Spring, Alabama, and now is fully owned by Scott’s Miracle-Grow Company.

Bonnie has 72 farms in 43 states, and they’re moving fresh plants from farms to the retail stores every single day, throughout the season, selling more than 100 million plants every year. Sutterer says his fleet drives more than 24 million miles every year.

Hunkering down during uncertain times

Looking at 2025, he says some of those same “stay at home” trends that led to more plant sales in 2020 are resurfacing again.

“As people are reacting to the tariffs and the market uncertainty and all of those sorts of things, we’re starting to see some of that same behavior,” Sutterer said. “A lot of people are wanting to homestead a little bit more now, control what they can control, and travel less.”

Plus, he said there is “a real value story that people are recognizing, when one tomato plant can produce $50 or $60 worth of tomatoes.

“That’s a pretty good math equation in these times, plus you get the benefits of growing your own and being outside. It’s stress relief, an opportunity to connect with nature, and the health benefits of growing your own food, too,” he said.

While Sutterer is bullish about 2025, his company faces additional uncertainty looking into 2026 and beyond, depending in part on how long new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration stay in place and at what level.

In recent months, he said Bonnie Plants probably had more near-term exposure with the Canadian tariffs just because most of their soil comes from Canada, in addition to some steel and lumber, Sutterer said.

“All of our products are merchandized on fixtures that are made out of steel and lumber. The trucks that we buy are going to be impacted. So, even things beyond the direct plant costs and what goes into the plant, are implicated with the tariffs. We’re still sorting through what that means as we look out to 2026.”

Editor’s note: Sara Wyant is publisher of Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc., www.Agri-Pulse.com.