Hyperlocal Food | Growing a Garden on City Land
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Growing food on government land is an illegal practice in many cities and towns across the U.S. But not everyone desires – or has the means – to pay an extraordinary amount on fruits and vegetables just to maintain their health.
(image) credit: RonFinley.comFor this reason, a growing percentage of the populace has begun planting foods near their home and on lesser-visited plots of land in the city. Known as Guerrilla gardening, this practice has been deemed illegal in many places, as the food foragers do not have a permit to grow a garden – even if they are only trying to use the Earth to its fullest capacity.
Such was the case for Ron Finley, who, four years ago, was given an arrest warrant for planting carrots outside of his home on a small strip of city-owned land. Even though he was required to maintain the plot of land, the city mandated that he must first purchase a $400 permit to grow a garden – something he refused.
Try it in Your Community?
Visit UrbanAgLaw.org
This page details the process of accessing public lands, the purposes of and best practices for land trusts, and the urban farming land inventories conducted in cities around the country. There is also information regarding lease agreements and easements, particularly relevant to non-profit urban agriculture projects.
Public Land, or city-owned property, can be used in various ways to benefit the city through urban agriculture. Many cities have developed policies to support urban agriculture on public land. To this end, some cities have developed their own city-run programs to foster urban agriculture on public lands, while others have amended zoning and leasing policies. Still others have changed land transfer and lease policies, to allow for the transfer of public land into land trusts or banks for community use.
PUBLIC LAND USE AGREEMENTS
View and download SELC’s Sample Agreement to Use Property for Food Garden
See also ChangeLab Solutions’ Dig, Eat, & Be Healthy: A Guide to Growing on Public Property.
After quite a bit of media coverage brought awareness to his predicament, the warrant was later revoked. The project gathered an immense amount of support, however, and inspired others to continue guerrilla gardening throughout the city. In response, the city of Los Angeles finally changed its policy last Fall: under a new law, the city will allow free gardens next to sidewalks.
As FastCoExist reported, Finley had some words to share about the new development:
“In some of these neighborhoods, that’s the only place people have to plant. Between the concrete, asphalt, and chain link fences, they don’t have any other places. To me, it’s about making food hyperlocal. Not just local, hyperlocal.”
Very good. I am very impressed with Finley’s courage!