Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... z1IIaDYQ5kNovella Carpenter took over a vacant lot on a hardscrabble corner of West Oakland eight years ago and turned it into a working farm of vegetables, goats, rabbits and, sometimes, pigs.
Carpenter milked goats, made cheese and ate much of the produce. She also wrote a popular book, "Farm City," about the experience and became an icon of the Bay Area's urban farming movement.
But the future of her Ghost Town Farm is in question. This week, Oakland officials suggested it may need to close. The reason: She sells excess produce and needs a costly permit to do so.
"It seems ridiculous," said Carpenter, 38. "I need a conditional use permit to sell chard?"
The news stunned the region's urban farmers and their supporters, who questioned how a fundamental human task that goes back millennia could become illegal.
I spit my tea out laughing when I read that last line about the "stunned" group of "urban farmers." They are stunned? Stunned by what? Stunned that a business that sells food to people needs a permit?
Bwahahahahahahahahah!!! Yeah - I know - that's what every advocate for the reduction of regulations on small businesses has been saying for decades. What is so "sad" about this? Ought people be allowed to just grow food and sell it to folks without getting proper permits and food licenses? All states require a food license if you're going to sell a product to the public - you need to register and be subject to inspection. What the fuck? Hippies are supposed to be exempted?"It's incredibly sad that people can't grow food and sell it to folks," said Barbara Finnin, executive director of City Slicker Farms, an Oakland nonprofit that runs produce markets and helps people start their own urban farms.
I mean - really. $2500 a year? What a joke. I am four square in favor of eliminating this silly permit they're talking about. It's just a revenue generator for the city. Maybe this is the way to get rid of these bullshit fees and rules - turn the leftists into capitalists. After all, that's what this lady just became, the first time she sold her food on the open market grown on land she purchased. Evil incarnate, I guess. Selfish bitch. She should be happy to pay whatever it takes, and if she can't make money doing it, well so what. She shouldn't be worrying about her profit.The permit would probably cost several thousand dollars, Candell said, and Carpenter also would have to pay penalties for operating without such a license as she is now. Carpenter works about 25 hours per week at the farm and takes in only about $2,500 a year, before expenses.
And, that's the serious does of reality that many people need. When you're finally the one who is actually accountable for doing something, and when you actually try to work within the applicable laws, you "have to be an adult and deal with these things."Carpenter said it has all been a learning experience. After starting out as a "squat farmer," she bought the plot for $30,000 in December. The previous owner sold it to her as a favor.
"It was so great squatting," she said. "I didn't have costs. I was a total renegade doing something totally illegal, but now that I'm a property owner, that's when they actually come down on me.
"I can't fly under the radar and be a punk anymore. I have to actually be an adult and deal with these things."
Oh - really - you started out "squatting?" I.e. - you started out stealing someone else's property and trespassing?
