Will backyard gardening become illegal?

[mechanic]

Senate Bill 510 might just make it so.

Google it and make your own decision.

Ben

[MGMorden]

This article is about last year's version of the bill, but it's much the same thing.  Again, more exaggerated claims. 

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/organic.asp

Checking the text of the bill, you're not looking at the legislation affecting food grown for personal use at all, only food for sale.

Text of the bill is here. Take a gander at it first before believing what the conspiracy websites throw at you.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s111-510

[beerbelly]

Just more unnecessary laws to tighten their hold on you. To make you even more submissive if that is possible! We are by far the most regulated people in the world.

[gypsyman]

More is being made out of this than what's in it. Stuff about the UN or Homeland Security being involved. I don't believe any of it. First off, UN can't wipe it's own butt, let alone inspect several million home gardens, and Homeland Security personel, I think, would be highly insulted if they had to check home gardens or farmers markets. Beside's, isn't that the job of the agriculture dept? I know I'm not going to lose any sleep over this next year when I plant my garden or give my neighbors veggies from my garden. gypsyman

[lakota]

Dont be so quick to dismiss this as a conspiracy.
Georgia man fined $5000 for growing vegetables in back yard:http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/cabbagegate-ga-man-fined-5k-for-home-garden/19633544 I assume AOL News is non partisan enough? Maybe I could find the story on CNN or MSNBC if this doesnt satisfy.

Local news video on the subject:http://www.wsbtv.com/video/24981915/index.html

On a similar note there was a movement in my area a few years back seeking to make would burning stoves and furnaces illegal "for the greater good"

The ability to grow one's own food or to secure one's own source of energy is self reliance and self reliance is bad for the nanny state.

[yellowtail3]

Will backyard gardening become illegal?

Probably depends upon what one is growing...

It's none of the gubmint's damned bidness if you've got a garden... and I'll go on to say, it's shouldn't be any of their business what you grow in your own garden.

[Pat/Rick]

+1 YT3.  Bills like this and the NAIS are nothing but an attempt at more control. This should be opposed if for no other reason than "the gov't that controls the food"................   Already sent letters to my reps.


There has in the past been at least one dairy farmer in WI jailed for not complying with the NAIS that was adopted there. AZ has made a law exempting their state from it. (National Animal Identification System) There have been a few articles in Backwoodshome and Hobby Farms magazines.

[scootrd]

I caught a blurb of a dairy farmer up this way who was recently arrested for providing unpasteurized milk to family,  friends, and needy families.
Apparently against the law.... later,  I believed I heard state had to drop charges cause he wasn't selling it ... He was giving it away to those who requested and were in need of milk.  I wondered at the time I Heard it was it really an issue of it being unpasteurized ... or was the real issue other entities were mad because they were not able to make a profit on it through supply chain.

[Pat/Rick]

Just got done skim reading the bill. Will read it more completely after my errands are done.There sure is alot of talk about "domestic facilities" and "fees" on the link that was provided. There is also alot of "struck out" on the page. I'm still going to make my seed order,  just might double or triple the amount so I have reserves.

[SHOOTALL]

so now we will have garden police 

[MGMorden]

Dont be so quick to dismiss this as a conspiracy.
Georgia man fined $5000 for growing vegetables in back yard:http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/cabbagegate-ga-man-fined-5k-for-home-garden/19633544 I assume AOL News is non partisan enough? Maybe I could find the story on CNN or MSNBC if this doesnt satisfy.

Which has nothing to do with this bill.   The story in the link relates to a county zoning issue.  He was growing crops it a level considered to be a "commercial" operation on a residentially zoned parcel (notice again, that in this story, he's selling them). 

County codes enforcement is nothing new, particularly to anyone living in town.  If you moved out of town into the rural areas, you can be that the zoning is more relaxed.  It's a completely different issue.

[powderman]

Luckily I got out of lou ky 28 years ago. The city sent me notice in late Jan that I was being fined for weeds in my back yard. I called them and they got real huffy saying if I didn't pay I would have to go to court. I said please do. They got real snippy so I said, I know city folk aren't all that bright but I thought everybody knew what tomato vines and corn stalks looked like. They shut up and I never heard from them again. POWDERMAN. 

[nw_hunter]

Luckily I got out of lou ky 28 years ago. The city sent me notice in late Jan that I was being fined for weeds in my back yard. I called them and they got real huffy saying if I didn't pay I would have to go to court. I said please do. They got real snippy so I said, I know city folk aren't all that bright but I thought everybody knew what tomato vines and corn stalks looked like. They shut up and I never heard from them again. POWDERMAN. 

The chicken police called on me several years ago. My Grandson had a little colored Easter chicken, and it grew into a small rooster. As roosters do.........he crowed, and one of the neighbors turned us in.

I figured this would someday happen, and told the Grandson the rooster would have to go, if it did.
They sent me a three page letter telling me what would happen if I didn't comply in quick order.

No Problem! We found a nice country home for him.All of the neighbors but one had no problem with him, but "HEY" We complied! We are allowed to have chickens in the city, and I started a small chicken farm....12 hens, and 0 Roosters. As soon as the hens started laying, I get another three page letter telling me I was receiving my second warning and they would take action. They might hang rooster farmers here in Oregon, so I immediately called the Chicken cop and asked him to come and inspect my flock, and look for roosters.He said......... that won't be necessary, and for me to ignore the letter. He would inform the complaining neighbor I had chickens and they were legal.

Since I like the sound of crowing roosters, I taped about an hr's worth of crowing, and listened to it daily until I got my fill.......About a weeks worth.Some of my neighbors said they liked the sound of rooster crowing, so I turned one speaker to the window, and gave them a treat

The devil made me do it!

 

[lakota]

Dont be so quick to dismiss this as a conspiracy.
Georgia man fined $5000 for growing vegetables in back yard:http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/cabbagegate-ga-man-fined-5k-for-home-garden/19633544 I assume AOL News is non partisan enough? Maybe I could find the story on CNN or MSNBC if this doesnt satisfy.

Which has nothing to do with this bill.   The story in the link relates to a county zoning issue.  He was growing crops it a level considered to be a "commercial" operation on a residentially zoned parcel (notice again, that in this story, he's selling them). 

County codes enforcement is nothing new, particularly to anyone living in town.  If you moved out of town into the rural areas, you can be that the zoning is more relaxed.  It's a completely different issue.

"Nothing to do with the bill" How so? Government cracking down on gardening is all the same be it local state or federal government doing the restricting. This guy has been doing this for 15 years why is it such an issue for his local morons now?

[MGMorden]

"Nothing to do with the bill" How so? Government cracking down on gardening is all the same be it local state or federal government doing the restricting. This guy has been doing this for 15 years why is it such an issue for his local morons now?

Local government is a completely different entity from Federal.  What you have is a zoning ordinance.  You have certain things that you typically can and can't do in certain zoning areas.  You can't setup a gas station in an area zoned residential, and you can't run a commercial farm in an area zoned residential either. 

As someone who works for a county government (and fairly closely with the codes department), I can honestly say that the #1 reason this probably became an issue at this time is that a complaint was likely called in from a neighbor (and I don't mean a wink wink nudge nudge "neighbor", I really do mean that in residential areas the neighbors get mighty upset with people running down the neighborhood).  There are a lot of codes that various entities are simply lax on unless someone complains - for example, high weeds and grass.  You have a legal obligation to keep your yard trimmed and cut to a certain level, but 99% of the time, your'e only going to get a citation if someone else files a complaint (well, you'll get a warning - typically a citation is only issued after a warning is ignored).

[Pat/Rick]

I disagree with the Bill. Isn't our FDA doing its job? It sounds more like a knee jerk reaction to last years salmonella egg outbreak than anything else to me. Also, alot of talk about fees, are more fees going to hurt or help domestic agriculture? Already alot of competition from foreign producers. There is an awful lot of "the secretary shall have 2 years after the Bill passes to make plans for contingencies", why, hasn't the Bill been thought out enough that two years after it passes they get to figure it out? "Domestic facilities" as referanced in the Bill does NOT differentiate between commercial and private. Unless that is part of the "struck out" portions. Food control works great. In North Korea. I'm thinking a NO vote would be called for by our Senators.

[mechanic]

Through the spring and summer we have a small "farmer's mkt" where local folks come and sell their produce.  I usually stock up here, even to the point of buying extra for canning.  I can do this cheaper than I can grow it.  The area they use is provided by the city, (parking lot), and they are there from 8:00 until 12:00 noon on Saturdays.

We buy a lot of plants here as well, and they usually have someone with home made fried pies, (peach and apple), so I bring coffee and have breakfast!

Will this have to go away?  Why would the gov. have an interest in what my grandpa called a "truck patch"?

The only way for an egg to have salmonella, or a vegetable for that matter is via the handling of it.  You can eat eggs raw straight from the chicken, if you wash the shell first, and never worry.  You can pick produce from the garden, rinse it and eat it without worry.  It's in the FDA inspected packing houses the salmonella occurs.

IMO I'd rather eat fresh than inspected.

Leave my food alone.

Ben

[powderman]

NW_HUNTER. HEH, I love it, especially about the recording. Ya did good. POWDERMAN. 

[SwampThing762]

Awesome bit on the recording.  Love it!! +1

ST762

[blind ear]

Institute for Justice, the organization that fights for the rights and freedom of individuals to work and achieve in this country and fights the corporate hound that tries to keep the little man from being able to compete and earn an honest living without jumping through coorporate and civic hoops of lisenceing designed to keep the little man and woman from competing in the free market.

http://www.ij.org/

There was a bill to require all livestock growers to have implants in chickens and cattle and other livestock. Private farmers would have to have an electornic tracking tag for every animal, coorporate growers would be required to have one electronic tracking tag per "lot" of stock. (under the guise of tracking MAD COWnd other stock wasteing diseases) The cost of tagging would have put the small family farmer out of business while exempting the large corporate farmer from the expense by designateing the heard or flock etc as a LOT to be tracked by one tag in one animal. The coorporations are in a  conspiracy to take our right to choose and prosper out from under thier guieses.


Many items are cheaper at familly dollar, Fred's and Dollar General than they at Wallmart now, MANY MANY items orfhigh quality brand names.

Be of good courage, think for yourself and do what YOU think is right. Just because they are famous or rich it doesn't mean they are telling you what is best for you.

 People hated actors and musicians in the old times because they could lie and make you believe it. They were traveling packs of cons and thieves. Now they are called politicians and actors. Think for yourself. Stop swallowing a party line because it is what your parents or bosses support.

eddiegjr