In the early 1970’s, a jar of alfalfa sprouts became the symbol of America’s growing health food movement. Since then, sprouting has gone through various periods of waxing and waning popularity, hitting all time levels of popularity now.

Long before sprouting became that symbol, it was practiced anciently, possibly as far back as 4000 or 5000 years.i Anciently, sprouted beans, legumes and grains became staple ingredients in Asian food, and there is some fairly strong evidence that ancient Chinese sailors took mung beans on their ships to sprout them as means to prevent or treat scurvy.ii

The First Great Sprouting Boom – Early 70s to Mid-80s

A variety of factors made sprouts and sprouting, especially the home growing of sprouts, boom in the early 1970’s. The hippie culture of the period, with it’s focus on vegetarianism, organic, whole & living foods, and a spiritual, back-to-the-land mindset, really drove the early interest in sprouting and started the first great American sprouting boom. During this period, sprouting seeds (mostly alfalfa, mung, lentils, radish and clover) started appearing in health food stores around the nation, along with sprouting jars and strainer lids.

We couldn’t be prouder of the fact that one of our top True Leaf Market brands, Handy Pantry, is one of the oldest sprouting brands in America, dating back to 1974, when we were working with health food stores to carry our initial line of sprouting seeds and products. Handy Pantry products have been available both in health stores and subsequently online, ever since.

We couldn’t talk about this early period of sprouting without a huge shout-out to some of the earliest pioneers and evangelists of that early sprouting movement:

Ann Wigmore – Probably best known for her evangelism of wheatgrass juice, Ann was a pioneer of the concept of living foods. Her core message was that in a modern society, it’s difficult to get real living foods every day, and that growing and juicing wheatgrass and eating sprouts can be done from your kitchen countertop all year long.

Viktoras Kulvinskas – along with Ann, Viktoras is a legitimate co-founder of the raw-food/living-food movement. His massively popular 1975 book “Survival into the 21st Century” was a blend of nutrition, spirituality, self-sufficiency and ecology that helped establish the idea that sprouts are one of natures most perfect and nutrient dense foods.

Gay Courter – a popular novelist, her non-fiction book “The Beansprout Book” helped to drive interest in sprouts and sprouting in the latter half of the early boom period. In the early 1980s, Gay’s efforts helped make sprouting more popular by introducing sprouts and sprouting to a more mainstream audience, beyond those in the 70’s health food enthusiasts.

With the contributions of these early pioneers, sprouts began making their way into restaurants, sandwich shops and grocery stores.

The First Decline in Sprouting Popularity – Late 80’s and 90’s.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that the popularity of sprouts and sprouting declined during this period, due in part to concerns over foodborne illness. There were documented cases of foodborne illness (E. Coli, Listeria, Salmonella) that were traced back primarily to pre-packaged alfalfa sprouts served in restaurants and grocery stores.

In this regard sprouts aren’t dissimilar to other vegetables that have had similar outbreaks of food born illness in the last forty years or so, including romaine lettuce, spinach, other leafy greens, melons, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, onions, peaches, frozen berries, etc… the list goes on as natural foods, including sprouts, are more susceptible to such outbreaks than processed ones are.

In the 80s, the government was right to begin issuing warnings over foodborne illness from food sources including sprouts. As a result, sprouts got less prevalent in restaurants and grocery store shelves, and interest in home sprouting similarly declined.

It is important to say a few words about food safety when it comes to sprouts. We advocate common sense and proven practices to help ensure the safety of sprouts. Please don’t grow sprouts unless you plan on following food safety protocols like pre-soaking seeds and rinsing sprouts with appropriate dilution of hydrogen peroxide, or hypochlorous acid, and other best practices.

The First Revival – Late 90’s to about 2015

Starting in the very late 1990s, sprouting started to have a renaissance. Driven by better food safety protocols, new sprouting evangelists and more than anything…. New scholarly research on the benefits of sprouts and sprouting, the popularity of sprouting started to grow again.

Professional growers and home growers were more aware of the foodborne illness risks of sprouting and were much more diligent about proper safety protocols. At the same time, research about the nutritional benefits of sprouts started to come out. Specifically, the density of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and antioxidants which are present in sprouts to a much higher degree than in their full-grown vegetable counterparts. Also, research in compounds like sulforaphane, glucosinolates, glucoraphanin and other Phyto-nutrients began to come out which skyrocketed interest in sprouts, especially broccoli sprouts.

At the same time, the variety of sprouts had dramatically expanded the options of flavor, textures and colors of sprouts. During this time, our own Handy Pantry brand added options like sunflower, chia, buckwheat, fenugreek, adzuki, garbanzos, peas, broccoli and countless sprouting seed mixes to our roster.

Evangelists and influencers also helped expand interest in sprouts and sprouting. In this revival era, there were several that did incredible work promoting the benefits of sprouts.

Steve Meyerowitz – Known to the world as “The Sproutman”, Steve was a pioneer of teaching people how to grow their own sprouts, by far the safest and most affordable way to get your sprouts. Steve overcame chronic health challenges with sprouts and diet, he started teaching how-to-sprout classes in the 70’s and ultimately would go on to write 11 books on sprouts and living food diets.

More than anyone he had become the ambassador of sprouting and helped to bring sprouts out of the niche health food world, to the mainstream. Steve arguably did more to promote the wonderful practice of sprouting than anyone alive, until his untimely passing from an automobile accident in 2015. May he rest in peace. Or more appropriately, sprouted peas.

Other Influencers – Steve may have been the most visible promoter of sprouts during this period, but there we lots of others doing great work to promote the benefits of sprouts and sprouting during this time. Paul & Patricia Bragg, Gabriel Cousens, David Wolfe and Brian Clement helped maintain and promote awareness of sprouts and sprouting during this period.

The Second Decline in Sprouting Popularity – 2015 to 2020

This period of decline is pretty minor compared to the first decline of the mid-80s and 90s. But there was a decline, nevertheless. The first reason for the decline was undoubtedly the passing of Steve Meyerowitz. Without his efforts in promoting, there was not a whole lot bringing new people into the sprouting experience. Add to that the explosion in the popularity of microgreens, which really began around 2013 and 2014 and was massively gaining popularity, much faster than sprouting ever did.

By about 2015, microgreens began to really take off, and many folks interested in sprouting made a switch to microgreens. Because of microgreens' popularity, many who might have discovered sprouting went to microgreens instead.

So sprouting started to trail off a little, but that wouldn’t last long.

The New Resurgence: 2020 to Present

Sprouting saw a significant resurgence during the covid years of 2020 to 2022, when gardening, including indoor gardening, sprouts, and microgreens all saw huge surges in popularity driven by the lockdowns, which led many to take up new hobbies, including growing. Along with that were related trends of prepping/self-sufficiency, supply chain difficulties, grocery store shortages, and well… you remember.

After 2022, sprouting popularity continues to grow, probably because of one very influential evangelist who is using social media to educate the world about sprouts.

Doug Evans – Doug published his top selling book “The Sprout Book: Tap into the Power of the Planet’s Most Nutritious Food”, in 2020. Doug has done more than anyone to focus attention on peer-reviewed nutritional research, as opposed to the spiritual or countercultural themes of decades ago. He has also done tremendous work on advancing food safety for sprouts and sprouting.

The Future of Sprouting

Sprouting has never been more popular than it is right now, and if the current trend continues, millions of people will discover the joys and benefits of growing and eating their own sprouts. More than ever, nutritional science is proving what many people’s intuition told them generations ago. Sprouts aren’t just good for you… they are REALLY good for you. They are also fun to grow and delicious. No other food options available give you the combination of benefits that sprouts do:

• Cheap, fast, fun & easy to grow
• Require minimal space, water or special equipment
• Provides nutritious, fresh, living food, all year long
• Good for you, low environmental impact

As people become more interested in preventative health, plant-based diets, indoor growing, food security, and sustainable living, expect sprouting to continue to grow with those trends.

The Continued Appeal of Sprouts

Few foods have mirrored America's changing relationship with health and nutrition as closely as sprouts. Once a symbol of the 1970s counterculture, later sidelined by food safety concerns and changing diets, sprouting has found new life among consumers seeking fresh, nutrient-dense foods they can grow themselves. While the motivations have evolved—from simple living to evidence-based nutrition—the appeal remains remarkably consistent: transforming a tiny seed into fresh food in just a few days.