Recent efforts by East Bay homesteaders to sell home-grown produce have met stringent resistance from local government. In an issue of Terrain Magazine, we covered the difficulty North Berkeley resident Sophie Hahn met in obtaining a permit that would allow her to sell produce grown from her yard in a local CSA-type program. “That’s because Berkeley’s zoning codes prohibit selling or otherwise conducting commerce outside a house in a residential neighborhood,” explains a recent Berkeleyside article. And a few weeks ago, Farm City author Novella Carpenter’s Oakland food stand was required to shut down because she didn’t possess a conditional permit to sell her backyard-grown chard. Inflamed neighbors rallied in Carpenter’s support, and the Oakland city codes have since been revised to allow Carpenter to sell her chard. Still, Hahn is finding trouble garnering the same outpouring of support among Berkeley residents. Click here to read more.
[Photo by Debra Solomon]
