Growing vegetables in a backyard hardly seems the stuff of a years-long political battle, but what began as a small violation in Elmhurst ended up before the state legislature before Nicole Virgil finally won the right to grow healthy food – with the help of CAC.

The Chicago climate is hard on gardens, so Virgil and her husband protected their plantings—spinach, kale, Swiss chard, carrots, tomatoes, corn, basil, parsley, and winter lettuce—with the help of a temporary, plastic-covered shelter called a hoop house.

The City of Elmhurst cited them for a violation, although no law existed, so Virgil got her predicament reported on TV news. The city would not budge so she went to CAC.

CAC’s community lawyer “knew the chess pieces, he knew the players” and helped her work with the city council and its members. Virgil said Silver “would show up at public comment period and would weigh in with a legal and political analysis.”

Even so, the city won court judgments against her and in 2019 banned hoop houses. Virgil shifted her attention to the state, getting help from the Institute for Justice, a nationwide, nonprofit law firm that supports libertarian groups, and a Chicago group, Advocates for Urban Agriculture.

A years-long campaign resulted in a statewide law banning discrimination against gardening and gardeners. The city remained resolute in its position and laid plans to outlaw all outdoor membrane structures without discrimination.

However, the people made their wishes known and elected several pro-hoop house members to the city council. Virgil won her fight for hoop houses in 2022, after six years. Growing veggies in your backyard hardly seems likely to land you in front of the state legislature, but that is exactly where it brought Nicole, with stops at city hall, CAC, and the courthouse along the way.