Neighborhood Food Act

The Sustainable Economies Law Center partnered with the Social Justice Learning Institute, Slow Food California and Ubuntu Green to pass AB 2561, the California Neighborhood Food Act in 2014. This law is supported by many other organizations and enterprises as well.

Click here for a more detailed FAQ about your new rights under this law.

If you sign the petition below, we can keep you updated on SELC's current urban agriculture advocacy that builds on our success with the Neighborhood Food Act and furthers our right to grow and sell food in our communities.

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The California Neighborhood Food Act, signed into law in 2014, removes barriers to growing food for personal consumption. The law provides rights to grow food in certain circumstances. As a signatory to this petition, you can show your support for urban agriculture as a strategy to increase access to fresh food, promote food security for vulnerable Californians, and reduce environmental impacts of water-intensive lawns. We'll keep you updated on our other work to promote urban agriculture. Below are descriptions of the key provisions of the law:

Tenants' rights: 

The law requires that tenants of single family homes and duplexes have the right to grow produce in their backyard in portable containers as long as it does not create trip-and-fall risks or other hazards. It allows the landlord to place restrictions on the location and number of containers.

Homeowners' Association member rights: 

The law makes it illegal for a homeowners’ association contract to prohibit or unreasonably restrict the use of backyards of private (not shared) property for growing produce.

Click here for a more detailed FAQ about your new rights under this law.

 

Click here to download model Neighborhood Food Act legislation (note: this is NOT what was actually signed into law in California).


Press Inquiries

Please email [email protected].


 

187 SIGNATURES
500 signatures

Will you sign?


Showing 173 reactions

  • carla rosin
    signed 2014-04-02 21:29:41 -0700
  • Hayley Currier
    signed 2014-04-02 15:34:50 -0700
  • Steve Hernandez
    signed 2014-04-02 08:16:46 -0700
    This bill is long overdue. Locally produced fruits, vegetables and herbs are superior in terms of flavor and quality. Creating incentives for individuals to supplement their income promotes locally interdependent sustainable agriculture.
  • Diana Young
    signed 2014-04-01 20:12:47 -0700
  • Ryan Thayer
    signed 2014-04-01 16:44:49 -0700
  • George McRae
    signed 2014-04-01 16:23:01 -0700
  • Janaia Donaldson
    signed 2014-04-01 15:23:23 -0700
    Keep it up, folks!
  • Schneider
    signed 2014-04-01 14:30:22 -0700
  • Jenny Loda
    signed 2014-04-01 14:09:15 -0700
  • Randy Stannard
    signed 2014-04-01 13:10:23 -0700
    Lawn reduction is good…also important to prioritize insectary plantings to support the food production…we have plenty of CA natives and also non-natives that are “water-wise” perennials that are good for beneficial species as as well a variety of other important functions (nutrient cycling, bioaccumulators, organic matter accumulators, etc). If we want to have “organic” food production, we must have diverse systems that include a wide variety of annual and perennial plants.


    All that said, I support this legislation!!


    Randy
  • Jeannie Pham
    signed 2014-03-31 18:58:46 -0700
  • @lidia12488187 tweeted link to this page. 2014-03-31 17:57:34 -0700
    Sign the #CA Neighborhood Food Act petition! The NFA would remove legal barriers to #urban #agriculture. http://www.theselc.org/neighborhood-food-act?recruiter_id=6571
  • posted about this on Facebook 2014-03-31 17:57:34 -0700
    Sign the #CA Neighborhood Food Act petition! The NFA would remove legal barriers to #urban #agriculture.
  • max Cadji
    signed 2014-03-31 16:11:50 -0700
  • Monica White
    signed 2014-03-31 15:24:22 -0700
  • Paul Canavese
    signed 2014-03-31 15:01:43 -0700
  • Anonymous
    signed 2014-03-31 14:41:52 -0700
    I am an urban homesteader in Oakland. I believe we need more urban agriculture in our neighborhoods, especially those under served by large grocery outlets. Removing barriers and encouraging residents to grow some of their own food not only leads to healthier eating habits, but also to the education of children and adults alike, the building of community, and the health of our environment.
  • Victoria Armigo
    signed 2014-03-27 18:48:48 -0700
  • Derek Steele
    signed 2014-03-27 16:42:00 -0700
    This is a very powerful way to move urban agriculture forward, creating opportunities for its sustainability by removing some of the barriers preventing its success. I definitely support this bill.
  • David Skolnick
    signed 2014-03-26 23:44:33 -0700
  • Christian Coulon
    signed 2014-03-26 15:10:49 -0700
  • Zach Dodge
    signed 2014-03-25 23:12:10 -0700
  • Aaron Kroeger
    signed 2014-03-25 21:38:51 -0700
  • Wendy Krupnick
    signed 2014-03-25 15:15:34 -0700
  • Leevonnie Johnson
    signed 2014-03-25 14:18:35 -0700
  • George Berven
    signed 2014-03-25 13:14:16 -0700
  • Jose Cortes
    signed 2014-03-25 12:55:23 -0700
  • Fatima Malik
    signed 2014-03-25 11:48:34 -0700
    This is needed in every community to ensure food security.
  • Eileen Thomas
    signed 2014-03-25 10:47:44 -0700
  • Maya Wolf
    signed 2014-03-25 10:43:44 -0700

Thanks to our Partners and Collaborators: