'War on Gardens' Spreads Like Weeds Across North America

Following on the recent demolition of a Tulsa resident's edible garden, and similar episodes in Georgia, Michigan, and New Jersey, a recent battle in Quebec has Laskow seeing an all out assault on our right to bear veggies.

"Across the country and even in Canada, cities' thinking about front lawns is more than a little bit antiquated," writes Laskow. "It comes down to this simple formulation: Grass good! Vegetables bad...If building a few bike lanes counts as a war on cars, this is definitely a war on gardens."

And Laskow is out to the marshal the troops: "It's not the 1950s anymore: Not everyone needs to grow a perfectly manicured lawn, especially when vegetable gardens can look just as attractive, improve the soil (instead of requiring tons of pesticides), and provide fresh food. If the problem is that these types of front yards are illegal in current city codes, then the codes need to change, along with people's assumptions that a burnt-out, water-sucking lawn is better than a few patches of thriving tomato plants and string bean vines."