On September 26, 2014, Governor Brown of California, signed into law,
Assembly Bill No. 2561 – Chapter 584, which gives homeowners and renters the right to grow their own food. The purpose for passing this bill, was to encourage people to grow food instead of lawns. It targets landlords and homeowners associations, prohibiting them from preventing renters and homeowners from growing food.
The entire bill is short and easy to understand, so click on the link above to read it. I’ve quoted two paragraphs which describe the bill’s two main objectives:
This bill would require a landlord to permit a tenant to participate in personal agriculture in portable containers approved by the landlord in the tenant’s private area, as defined, if certain conditions are met.
This bill would make void any provision of a governing document of a common interest development that effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts the use of a homeowner’s backyard for personal agriculture.
With all the hoopla about the right to bear arms, it would be nice if people were just as concerned about the right to grow food. You can eat a carrot. You can’t eat a gun.
Hopefully, there will be many who have been prohibited from growing vegetables, who will now enjoy looking at the beauty of, and savoring the sublime taste of fresh vegetables, picked just before eating.
After a hard, stressful day at work, coming home to a lush vegetable patch, and being able to cover your cutting board with just picked produce, will melt the stress away and make you smile all evening long.
