There were regulations about homegrown food, but at the time Davide was growing his tomatoes, he didn't know about them. Although it wasn't strictly against the law to plant a vegetable garden, government regulations made it almost impossible for the average citizen to do so. The certifications and credentials required to legally grow vegetables cost a lot of money. They were usually sought after only by corporations and professionals working for corporations.
Most people relied on the grocery stores in their towers for fruits and vegetables. There, they could get government-certified organics or bio-engineered foods. But the cost of certification made the organics expensive. Prohibited from growing their own and finding the price of organics too high, most people bought and ate the cheaper engineered foods.
The government used automated drones to enforce domestic regulations, such as the one for homegrown food. Through a public relations campaign, the government tried to convince the people that the drones were for their safety, but the inhabitants of the towers knew the drones were really there to prevent them from committing regulatory offenses. The drones very effectively dissuaded the majority of citizens from pursuing projects that could have made them more self-reliant.
Davide hadn’t paid much attention to the drones. Or at least he had trusted they were there for his welfare. They were quiet and unobtrusive most of the time. But they had been watching Davide’s balcony ever since he had ordered the seeds from the online website. Davide knew nothing of this until the door chimed and there was a knock.
His Annie showed the door viewer where Davide saw a couple of people and several robots; one man was showing his ID to the viewer. It was building maintenance. Davide opened the door and immediately was pushed out of the way by the robots. The two men took Davide aside and began to question him.
“You are Davide Ephraim Jackson?” asked one of the men, the tallest.
“Yes,” said Davide.
“You live here in this apartment alone?”
“Yes, except for my robot.”
“Mr. Jackson, did you know it was against government regulations to grow vegetables without being a certified grower?”
“No, I’m sorry, I did not. I thought it was no different than flowers.”
“Mr. Jackson, do you realize the damage you could do to yourself and to others if you distributed such items?”
“No sir, I guess not.”
“That’s the problem, Mr. Jackson, so many people are unaware of the danger such plants pose to the public at large. We understand that you had a problem with a particular fungus. Is that so?”
“Yes, I did, but I’ve completely removed it from my garden; how did you know?” asked Davide as he turned to look at his garden. He almost shouted when he saw the robots digging up his garden plot and placing it into plastic bags. “What are they doing?” he demanded. “They can’t do that!”
Davide's yell brought Sigmund out of the other room, but he froze when he saw all the robots on the balcony.
“Yes Mr. Jackson, they can. Here is the seizure warrant; it is all legal.” He handed Davide the paper and continued.
“As I was saying, you and others don’t understand the damage to the food supply you could cause by these unlicensed home vegetable gardens. Without the proper training and inspection, such diseases as the fungus that attacked your plants could spread. A disruption in the food supply is a very serious matter. You wouldn’t want to be responsible for such an incident, would you?”
“No, of course not. I just wanted to grow a few plants as I remembered my grandmother doing.”
“I understand, Mr. Jackson,” said the man in a consoling tone. “It is a common mistake. Still, it is a violation of current regulations, and you will have to take the punishment. Of course, you may be represented by an attorney if you wish. But I would recommend you accept the judge’s verdict and get on with your life. Court cases can take months to schedule and conclude. And the juried verdicts are usually the same as when uncontested.”
Davide’s eyes were near to tears as he watched the last of his plants being pulled up and placed in the hazmat bags. He no longer was angry but felt only a sad resignation. “I’ll do whatever you say, sir,” he said quietly.
No comments:
Post a Comment