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Earthworms, bees, eggplants, oh my!
If it seems like just last month that a kitchen gardener was facing legal woes for planting a subversive plot in a front yard, it wasn't: it was two months ago! Last time around, it was a mother of four from Michigan who was facing a possible 93 day jail sentence for her tidy raised bed garden. This time it's Adam Guerrero, a high school math teacher from Memphis, Tennessee, who's feeding himself from his front yard, keeping bees and worm composting bins in his back yard and using it all to teach teenagers in his community about healthy eating and living. Read his story and show your solidarity here»
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Dear Kitchen Gardener:
Ten days ago, I gave a TEDx talk in Portland, Maine called a "A Subversive Plot" about why and how the kitchen garden revolution needs to be taken to the next level if we're going to meet the health, environmental and economic challenges we face. It was a very inspiring event to be a part of and I'll share the video of my talk as soon as it's ready.
One of the action points from my talk is that we need to decriminalize kitchen gardening. Audience members were surprised to hear that in our age of global warming, peak oil, and peak obesity that there are still people in the US who can't grow healthy food on their own property where the sun shines the strongest and longest. The sad truth is that public policy has not yet caught up with the public and our understanding of the issues shaping our lives, our communities and our planet.
The happier truth is that together we can pull public policymakers - kicking and screaming, if needed - into the 21st century. How do I know it? Well, because we've done it before. The KGI community played a leading role in showing solidarity for Oak Park, Michigan gardener, Julie Bass, when she was cited for her frontyard garden earlier this summer.We began blogging, tweeting and posting it on our facebook group on July 5th and just a couple days later the story was broken wide open by TreeHugger.com and other news outlets. And just a few weeks after that, Oak Park officials dropped charges against Julie citing the numerous phone calls and emails they received from gardeners across the country.
It's once again time for us kitchen gardeners to stand together in solidarity. When one person wins the right to garden, we all win.
Thanks for being part of the KGI community and for growing a better world, Roger |
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Breaking News: Adam Gets to Keep His Front Yard Garden!
ReplyDeleteReaders of our last newsletter know that kitchen gardens and urban homesteading went on trial this week in Memphis when high school teacher, Adam Guerrero, was ordered to remove his garden or face legal action. Thousands of petition signatures, video views, facebook likes and emails later, I'm thrilled to report that Adam gets to keep his front yard garden. And it gets even better because the city of Memphis was so impressed by the support Adam and his garden received that it's going to help him locate a lot in his neighborhood for a new community garden. I'm proud that the KGI community was able to play such an active role in this case. Thanks to all who supported this campaign. Your efforts combined with those from others from the food garden movement helped send a strong statement that kitchen gardens are not the problem, but are a key part of the solution to healthy and sustainable communities. Thanks and best wishes, Roger
PS: And please remember what your mom taught you: be sure to say thank you. After receiving so many emails from KGI members this week with "Save Adama's Garden" in the subject header, Judge Potter would probably be quite happy to receive a few with "Thank You." You can send them here: larry.potter@shelbycountytn.gov