Why we do what we do...Destroying Gardens in Sugar Creek Pt. 1

 The other day our news feed was swamped with stories about a man in Sugar Creek, Missouri who had planted a lawn in his front yard and was told by the city to remove it.  It is horrible.  It is mean.  It is wrong that a man who owns a spot of land cannot plant what he wants and cannot do something as simple as supplement his family's food supply by growing food right outside his front door.

Gardens like his are springing up all over the country and all over the world.  Nathan Athans' plight is not unique.  As farmers we know that problems like this are like invasive insects, where there is one you can see, there are likely many more you cannot see.

This story is different because he was able to dig in.  Mr. Athans'  was able to make some noise and fight something that is, when you really look at it, silly.  Think about the ones you do not see.  Take a moment to think about the possible outcomes of this situation.

Scenario 1:  The city backs down, but...
It seems the city is going to cave on this one.  When the ordinance which was hastily passed, was enacted, the idea was that there would be some paperwork and a city official or sheriff's deputy would show up and the garden would be gone in a matter of hours.  They did not count on Mr. Athans' doing anything but what he was told and that being it.  They did not count on the cameras.  The city acts as a go-between between the residents and the "offenders" and a large part of the problem is that the ordinance only became an ordinance because someone complained.  A vote was taken and the ordinance was put in place, all while Mr. Athans' was at work.  The people who got the ordinance passed so quickly were people who do this for a living.  They are people whose only job is making sure things like this come to pass and except for the cameras, they would have gotten away with it.

Scenario 2:  The city backs down, for now...
Time is a big factor in all of these things and given enough time just about any one could be worn down.  One of the things that we see often is that the little guy does not have the energy or the resources that others do.  The second swing is weaker. If the city backs down for now, and says they want to think about it and see what they can do to work with Mr. Athans, knowing the whole time their goal is not changing, then what will likely happen is that once the cameras go away, so will the garden.  The iron is hot and people are outraged, for now, but not for long and where does he go from there?

Scenario 3: Athans backs down
How much fight does one person have in them when they have a full time job and a family to feed?  There are a couple of thoughts on this one and we hope they are for the best.
a.) We have no idea what his full situation is, but Mr. Athans could move, either to a new neighborhood or to land that is not so regulated and start all over.  The fight he has shown so far shows that he is working to do what is best for his family, so who would blame him if he were able to move to a new and better situation for his family?  I wouldn't but the problem is that this leaves all of the others in his current situation without and that becomes a tough battle.
b.) He just quits.  This is highly unlikely but as we see in the other scenarios, this is the problem with situations like this, i.e. they have the time and the money and he does not.

Where we see one, there are many more such situations.  Day in, day out, all over the country, similar situations are playing out all over.  These are situations most noted by people not even getting involved.  They look at their front yard as they come back from the supermarket and wonder. Then they shake the idea from their minds because they know that the neighbors would not understand, or maybe they are renting and the landlord would not like it, or maybe or maybe...

We do what we do so that we can go to bat for people like this.  The interesting thing about this is that a lot of what happened to Mr. Athans could have been derailed.  Decisions are made by those who show up and a lot of the decisions that were made about whether or not he could grow food in his front yard were made while Mr. Athans was at work.  Or, and this is often the case as well, he just didn't know about the hearing.  Just about any of these decisions could have been made at any time without him knowing.

The question becomes about protecting the "little guy" and how to make sure that these people have some footing in the system.  It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out and how we can work with other organizations to make sure that it becomes easier not harder to grow your own food.  The Life Cooperative is comprised of a number of different businesses and individuals who are coming together and working together to make life, overall, better for people who want to make a difference.  Contact us at grow@thelifecooperative.org to see how you can make a differnce.