COVID-19 Forces Canning Supply Shortage In Twin Ports

This one makes sense. A lot of people stuck at home, some had to take a pay cut. So people started growing their own vegetables.

Now comes the canning season, putting away what was grown to enjoy later. Making salsa, tomato sauce, pickles, whatever has been grown is now being canned for the winter. This is causing an unprecedented canning demand. People in the Twin Ports area are known for canning anyway, but now more people are canning than other years.

Newell Brands, owner of Ball, which produces Mason jars and other supplies tells The Guardian that there are more people canning than ever before. Elizabeth Andress, from the National Center for Home Food Preservation, told the Guardian it is making for supply constraints in stores and online while people wait for online orders and in-store supplies to be filled.

I saw more people caring for gardens in the Community Garden on Arrowhead Road in Duluth. When I talked to one of the growers they said it was a bargain to have a plot and grow their own food. They were growing for their own family and for donation for people that couldn't grow their own for fresh vegetable. Fox 21 says it costs between $20 to $100 dollars for your own plot and there are other locations in the Duluth Community Garden Program including Apple Tree Circle, Chester Creek, and Gary New Duluth.

When I called around to area grocery stores and went online to see about supplies. All Grocery stores were running low but were trying to stay ahead. Menards in Hermantown said 3 jars in stock, West Duluth was sold out, and Superior had one jar. that doesn't even include the jar tops, pectin, and other canning supplies the stores were out of. However, I was able to find canning supplies, jars, and lids on Amazon.com.