Quebec, Let Homeowners Have Kitchen Gardens!
- van: Lynn Hamilton
- ontvanger: Drummondville, Quebec Mayor Francine Ruest Jutras and municipal council
Josee Landry and Michel Beauchamp have one of the tidiest and most visually appealing gardens you've ever seen, and it sits proudly in front of their equally immaculate house. The couple has raised enough vegetables right at home to improve their diet, and they even have some left over to give to neighbors.
But now, these happy locavores are looking at fines of up to $300 a day if they don't tear down two thirds of their beautiful garden. Turns out the city of Drummondville, Quebec has an outdated ordinance that says you can't dedicate more than a third of your front yard to a vegetable garden. This serious violation of property owners' rights is flagrantly out of tune with the times. The dangers of obesity coupled with global warming make it not only desirable, but imperative that people figure out how to feed themselves more vegetables grown closer to home!
Tell Drommondville's Mayor and council to rewrite their town ordinance to encourage full use of private property for kitchen gardens!
We the undersigned are appalled that you would instruct Josee Landry and Michel Beauchamp to tear down two thirds of their kitchen garden. Their garden is not only a visual asset to the neighborhood, it is vital to the couple's health.
Your city ordinance that forbids full use of a front lawn as a vegetable garden is seriously out of tune with the times. North America faces a serious obesity epidemic coupled with the threat of catastrophic climate change. Store bought food significantly contributes to both problems. The chemicals used in commercial agriculture and the pollution associated with its transportation are major contributors to global warming. Furthermore, commercial farm products are generally over-processed which contributes significantly to overeating and weight management problems.
Please, please rewrite your municipal ordinance not just to legalize the Landry/Beauchamp garden, but to encourage such kitchen gardens throughout your community!
