I saw this in another forum. I haven`t googled it yet. Does anyone know if this is true? And if it is how can they do this? A lot of people are starting to grow gardens as a way of cutting down on expensive fruits and veggies. This doesn`t seem fair to me.

nor to me...how many people would have their own garden and can farm it..i personally cant afford this..governments holds the responsibility of growing food in general..

I have a garden and it's a big one too. We don't have to buy any produce when it's picking season. I would hope the government isn't going to tell me I can't plant my own garden. It's my land, my money and my resources.
Most people I know have gardens.

Well the intention may be correct in this law but the application of this law seems to have been faulty. Since we are consuming home grown foods at our own risks there is no need for this law as we are not using our tiny little gardens for commercial purposes.

The government does not hold the responsibility of providing our food, at least in the US. All of the food here is grown by farmers who do this as their business.

I have not heard of any law that says you cannot grow a garden on your own land. The only places I have heard of this being restricted is where people try to grow food on apartment balconies and similar places. The only laws I have seen concerning private land are about growing gardens in the front yard. Since many people use pesticides and other chemicals, they don't want them in the front where people walking down the sidewalk may be exposed to them. In the back yard you would be OK.

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I did a bit of research and found the following on http://www.growingthegarden.com/2009/04/the_hr_875_the_food_safety_mod.html

You may have heard the scare stories about the bill before Congress: HR 875, the Food Safety Modernization Act. I came across a good post at the Secret Farm blog, Secret Farm: A garden blog: HR 875 the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009

As many of you out there are aware by now, there is a bill that has been introduced to Congress called HR 875 Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 . I have seen a number of twitters and blog posts about it, as well as articles and discussions. I was all set to write a very different post about this issue until I came across this post at Crooks and Liars.com in my search:

http://crooksandliars.com/nonny-mouse/m ... 5-take-two

So I followed the link to Crooks & Liars for more information. From the post there:

To set the record straight:

There is no language in HR 875 that would regulate, penalize, or shut down backyard gardens or ‘criminalize’ gardeners; the bill focuses on ensuring the safety of food in interstate commerce.

Farmer’s markets would not be regulated, fined, or shut down, and would, in fact, benefit from strict safety standards applied to imported food to ensure that unsafe imported food doesn’t compete with locally grown produce.

The bill would not prohibit or interfere with organic farming, or mandate the use of any chemicals or types of seeds. The National Organic Program (NOP) is under the jurisdiction of the USDA. HR 875 addresses food safety issues and falls under the jurisdiction of the FDA.

Monsanto and any other large agribusiness company had no part whatsoever in drafting this bill, and Rep. DeLauro’s husband and his company do no lobbying on this issue.

HR 875 has nothing to do with any national animal ID system, which would fall under the jurisdiction of the USDA, and not the FDA.

So I looked around the web and found some other sources, explaining that the hysteria is unwarranted.

Food and Water Watch, Background on H.R. 875

Here are a few things that H.R. 875 does NOT do:

* It does not cover foods regulated by the USDA (beef, pork, poultry, lamb, catfish.)
* It does not establish a mandatory animal identification system.
* It does not regulate backyard gardens.
* It does not regulate seed.
* It does not call for new regulations for farmers markets or direct marketing arrangements.
* It does not apply to food that does not enter interstate commerce (food that is sold across state lines).
* It does not mandate any specific type of traceability for FDA-regulated foods (the bill does instruct a new food safety agency to improve traceability of foods, but specifically says that recordkeeping can be done electronically or on paper).

The Slow Food USA Blog, in H.R. 875 links to a few trusted sources saying this bill does not do the scary things that the emails and blogs claim.

So don't be afraid. Don't be very afraid.

Yeah that's my understanding of the proposed bill. It will affect large, commercial farmers, but will not matter to individuals or families that have gardens for their own use.

Wow-- thanks for doing all that research to find out the truth of the matter. I for one, am more excited now. I wasn't really worried as I knew there was no way the government could stop us from having gardens. After all Michelle Obama has started a garden at the White house. DOuble standards really if they they were trying to pass a law.
Really- thanks for finding that! I'm thankful our government isn't trying to pass something as silly as that!

It sounds like a group, interested in avoiding regulation, probably started the rumor. It ranks right up there with the anti union hysteria that some business groups are trying to stir up.

Wow, thanks for the info. I just started my garden and it`s already sprouting. I didn`t think this was right. Everyone is trying to find cheaper ways of getting veggies. Whew! It had me worried. I thought "now how are they going to know I have a garden?" Are my neighbors going to turn me in? lol