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‘Front yard vegetable garden’ war is on in Missouri

The city passed an ordinance last week, reports KSHB that prohibits anyone from turning their front yards into vegetable gardens within 30 feet of the street. That covers just about all residential homes.

The new restrictions on agriculture on properties within the city is not sitting well with Nathan Athans. He says the ordinance is a “witch-hunt” against him because it specifically was meant for his vegetable garden. The family started its veggie garden last year.

“We are the only house in the city with a front yard garden and just happen to be exactly within those 30 feet,” Athans wrote in an online petition he started on March 30. The petition already has 5,272 signatures of the 7,500 needed before it will he handed to Mayor Matt Mallinson.

All Athans wants is to get the law reversed, but city building official Paul Loving says the garden wasn’t well kept. He says there were complaints last year over weeds. “I don’t know that there would have been a problem,” he said. Last year, Athans was cited by the city for the weeds and he pulled the weeds and paid the citation, but the city was on his case again this year.

In the petition, Athans explains that his back yard wasn’t large enough and didn’t get the right amount of sunlight to grow vegetables. He said, “We believe in sustainability, growing our food locally without pesticides and excessive fertilizer use. He adds, “I don’t want to have to go to the grocery store and worry about what was done to that food.”

The war on gardens has been going on for a number of years now. In 2012, the New York Times cited several front yard garden stories that “touch on divisive issues like homeowner rights, property values, sustainability, food integrity, and the aesthetics of the traditional American lawn.”

And what constitutes an American lawn is the big question, especially today. We can look at California, where people are encouraged to do away with lush, green lawns in favor of sand or pebbles because of the drought. And with food safety as well as food sustainability now an issue, growing your own vegetables is not such a bad idea to many folks.

And it is fair to point out that in many cities across the country, keeping chickens in the back yard is now acceptable, so why not have a vegetable garden in the front yard? As for Athans, he had until April 1 to transform his veggie garden back into a plot of green nothingness. Is that really fair?

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We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our dear friend Karen Graham, who served as Editor-at-Large at Digital Journal. She was 78 years old. Karen's view of what is happening in our world was colored by her love of history and how the past influences events taking place today. Her belief in humankind's part in the care of the planet and our environment has led her to focus on the need for action in dealing with climate change. It was said by Geoffrey C. Ward, "Journalism is merely history's first draft." Everyone who writes about what is happening today is indeed, writing a small part of our history.

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