(Image source: Eater)
BY MYCHAELA BRUNER
ANCHOR ANA COMPAIN-ROMERO
You're watching multisource US video news analysis from Newsy.
A Michigan mother of six faces 93 days in jail -- for planting a vegetable garden. You heard that right. Here’s CNN.
“The Bass family lives there - they decided to put a garden in the front yard after it was torn up for a sewer line. They planted tomatoes, fresh basil, cabbage - but the city code said all unpaved parts should be planted with shrubs or live plants –not veggies.”
Julie Bass was charged with a misdemeanor in Oak Park, Michigan but will not give up her garden without a fight. She tells ABC News…
“The criminal charge ‘blew my mind.’ ‘Sometimes we laugh because it seems so silly and sometimes we cry because it's so pathetic. A lot of times it does not seem real.”
A blogger for The Stir agrees -- this is really -- unreal.
“The fight is due to the fact that Bass believes vegetables are suitable, and the city rep thinks that it is quite unsuitable to see a cucumber poking up in your front yard. So this town that has already furloughed its workers and cancelled the fireworks on the 4th of July has time and money to pursue a woman growing fresh food for her family. All over the difference of opinion of the definition of the word "suitable."
While many neighbors think the charge is ridiculous – city officials tell WJBK -- a lot of people actually side with the city.
KEVIN RULKOWSKI (City Planner): – “I would argue that you won’t find that opinion from most people in Oak Park.”
NEIGHBOR: “That’s ridiculous. I have a bunch of little children and we take walks to come by and see everything growing. I think it is a very wonderful thing for our neighborhood. They don’t have anything else to do –they are going to take her to court for her garden.
REPORTER – We did find one neighbor who wasn’t a fan. So you think it needs to go.
NEIGHBOR: “I do. I know there’s a back yard, do it in the back yard.”
Bass says she thought the garden would be a nice thing – she wanted fresh vegetables and to teach her children about maintaining a garden. Digital Journal quotes Bass…
"’In an ideal world, I would shop exclusively at farmer’s markets, or better yet, go to u-pick farms with my family and pick all our own food...But this is 'reality island', we live a busy life in 2011, and we try to juggle our resources and our responsibilities with our aspiration to do our best.’”
A blogger from Forward.com -- who knows Bass says -- the irony here is -- she tried to do the right thing.
“Personal vegetable gardens...aren’t uncommon in Oak Park. Julie’s ‘mistake’ is that as a good citizen, she checked with city officials before planting hers. They did not know what a raised bed was and they could not give her a direct answer. So, she moved ahead with her garden. Refusing to back down, her court date is now set for July 26.
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Transcript by Newsy.
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