Walk the Talk on Greening Orlando by Allowing Front Yard Vegetable Gardens

To: Mayor Buddy Dyer and Members of the Orlando Code Enforcement Board

We respectfully request that you allow citizens to grow healthy, affordable vegetables in their own front yards without government obstruction and without residents having to invest hundreds of dollars in so-called "aesthetic improvements." Food gardens aren't the problem; they're part of the solution!

This petition closed on January 11, 2013.

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7,500

7,575 people signed the petition

Last fall, Jason and Jennifer Helvenston of College Park, Orlando, Florida were ordered by local officials to remove their front yard vegetable garden at a time when Orlando was touting its environmental credentials and reaching out to citizens for input on what additional steps the city could take to become one of greenest urban centers in the country

We launched this petition last fall and, several thousands of signatures and emails later, we thought we had won our campaign. Feeling the heat, Orlando officials went on record to say that they would not remove the garden.

Now that the spotlight is off of them, however, these officials are singing a different tune: that Jennifer and Jason need to invest hundreds of dollars into upgrading their garden's aesthetics (via a fence or boxed containers) or face possible fines of $500 per day for every day the garden fails to meet the city code.

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Update on January 30, 2013

Hey Folks!  Jason and Jennifer's garden is back in the national media today in this New York Times piece (http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/29/lawns-into-gardens/). Their case has taken some wild twists and turns during the past few weeks. First

Update on November 11, 2012

We just went over the 3000 signature mark in less than 3 days: awesome work everyone! We're in touch with Jason and Jennifer and they want to let you all know how much they appreciate your support. Please keep spreading the word. Together, we're going to win

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