The Chicagoland area is crisscrossed by numerous high voltage power lines owned by ComEd. Many of these lines pass through highly developed residential areas, with houses lining both sides of the ComEd right of way. Except for an occasional bike path winding through, the area under the power lines is simply vacant mowed fields.
Decades ago suburbs started leasing plots of land for community gardens. These programs are extremely popular, with plots always in demand and fully farmed each year. Demand was so great that some communities started farming outside their allotted area and building unauthorized sheds. Citing safety and maintenance access concerns, ComEd began terminating these leases several years ago when they came up for renewal. However, ComEd is now terminating all remaining leases where there have never been issues, in the name of fairness.
ComEd spokesman Jeff Burdick said ComEd has been phasing out similar gardens in other communities over the years as leases expired. In Des Plaines, its lease was with the Des Plaines Park District, which administered the plots.
"Once we started phasing out, in the interest of fairness to all communities, no matter how well an individual program is being run, ComEd can't allow garden plots in some communities and not in others," Burdick said.
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These community gardens provide the nearby residents with locally grown produce. Many are tended by retired seniors who are kept active and able to supplement their diet with vegetables they would otherwise not be able to afford on a fixed income. Hundreds of acres are available for garden plots under the miles of power lines.
But just like in third grade where one bad apple ruined it for everyone, because community gardens were disallowed in some places, they must now be destroyed everywhere. Rather than working with the problem communities to reign in the program and make improvements, it was simply more expedient to cancel it and force the land to lie fallow. It doesn’t matter that the Des Plains plots never generated any complaints by ComEd, opportunity must be removed from all to be "fair" to all. ComEd doesn't want to leave itself open to discrimination lawsuits.
This is nothing new unfortunately. When I was at the University of Illinois in the early 90’s, the Men’s Swimming and Diving team was disbanded to comply with Title IX. The law said Men’s and Women’s sports must be equal. So rather than adding a sport for women, they took one away from the men and declared everyone "equal". Draconian equality that accomplished nothing.
And absolutely nothing has changed over the years. Ripping out the last of the gardens doesn't improve anyone else's life in the slightest. All the benefit they provide to residents and the environment will be lost. Is this really what equality means, that we must all accept the lowest common denominator in every aspect of our lives? Equality means tearing everyone down so that all suffer evenly?