Chinampas were starting to become an anachronism – until the Covid-19 pandemic struck in 2020. With the closing of borders and disruption of supply chains, Mexico City"s largest open-air, wholesale market, La Central de Abasto, came to a standstill. In a pandemic-ridden environment, 20 million Mexico City dwellers started looking back to where their forefathers had procured their food: the chinampas.