During World War II, when food was rationed, U.S. citizens were exhorted to supplement with "victory gardens." First lady Michelle Obama encourages gardening. In Oak Park, Mich., however, a mother of six faces jail time for her front yard vegetable garden. The city is charging Julie Bass with a misdemeanor crime.
News sources and the Internet are aflame with the story of Julie Bass, a mother who faces 93 days in jail. Organic food is expensive, Bass says. Detroit's Eastern Market hosts an awesome array of organic produce, but it's also pricey. In order to feed her family healthy food, she started the garden. The garden is neat and well-maintained, in raised wooden boxes. Bass says she put the garden in the front yard because the neighbors, especially the children, love to see it.
The city of Oak Park has no problem with gardens as long as they are relegated to the back yard. City planner Kevin Rulkowski, points to an ordinance that says only "suitable plant material" may be grown in front yards. Essentially, this means flowers. The offending vegetables aren't pretty enough for the front yard.
Julie Bass said that she could (with a great deal of work) move the garden to the backyard, but it's become a matter of principle. Oak Park officials feel the same way. The city is prepared to go to an expensive jury trial to get rid of the Bass family vegetable garden.
This story is disturbing on many levels.
* Crime is rampant in Detroit, and local burbs are launching a crusade against a gardener.
* Michigan lawmakers are always crying about reducing spending; they're wasting taxpayer money to fight a garden.
* Children learn vital life science lessons in a hands-on way, from gardening. Gardens are the ideal hands-on educational tool.
* The first lady says to plant gardens. A mother of six faces jail time for following her lead.
* When asked what "suitable plant material" meant, Rulkowski, quoting the dictionary, says "suitable" means "common". False. Suitable is defined as "appropriate for any individual or situation; desirable, fitting". Last time I checked, food was suitable for human needs. Flowers, by that definition, are not. They are pretty, but you can't eat them. Not to split hairs, but vegetables are flowering plants for a certain period in their growth cycle.
* Many decorative gardeners grow flowering cabbage and onion, fruit trees, flowering almond and other edible plants in their front yards. The difference is that they probably don't eat the produce and it goes to waste. Julie Bass is at fault for using the plants for the purpose they were intended? She faces jail time for refusing to throw food away? Survivors of the Great Depression and WWII must be aghast.
* If we're talking about green initiatives, reducing the carbon footprint, saving the environment, what's more efficient and less wasteful than a veggie garden? Landscape gardeners use thousands of gallons of water to keep purely ornamental plants alive. During summer, in Michigan, we sometimes have watering restrictions when residents are asked not to water their grass. Why? Because water is precious and must be conserved for crops and food gardens.
In this time of national crisis: war, budget cuts, threats to international security, Americans are being called to come together as a nation. Julie Bass's little victory garden is a shining light of patriotism. It's a banner of American pride. Long may it flourish in the land of the free.
A life-long resident of "Pure Michigan", Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben writes about people, places, events and issues in the Great Lakes State.
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