If you live in Florida and want the freedom to plant food on your own property, I have great news for you.

Late last month, the Florida Senate affirmed the right of self-reliant people statewide to grow vegetable gardens in their front yards.

Here are some details on the bill from the Miami Herald:

The 40-member Senate vote was 35-5.

Sen. Rob Bradley's SB 82 prohibits a county or municipality from regulating vegetable gardens on residential properties, voiding any current regulations regarding the produce patches.

Local governments, however, can still adopt a local ordinance or regulation that doesn't specifically target vegetable gardens, like regulating water during drought conditions, limiting fertilizer use or controlling invasive species.

A couple was forced to rip out their garden.

While it might seem odd that people would need government permission to grow food on their own property, the bill was passed in response to a legal dispute about an ordinance in Miami Shores that banned gardens from being planted in front yards.

In 2017, Hermine Ricketts and Tom Carroll, who had a vegetable garden in their front yard for 17 years, were told they could grow flowers in their front yard, but the fresh produce had to go, reports Treehugger:

Hermine Ricketts and Tom Carroll, indignant at the fact that vegetables were deemed more offensive than boats, RVs, jet skis, statues, fountains, gnomes, pink flamingoes, or Santa in a Speedo in one's front yard, took their case to the Florida Supreme Court, which ruled in favour of Miami Shores' right to control design and landscaping standards. In other words, it was a loss for Ricketts and Carroll. (source)

"It's all about conformity. Miami Shores wants to be a mini Coral Gables," Ricketts said. "What is the definition of edible? I can go into any front yard and find something edible because every plant has an edible part."