The U.S. Department of Agriculture requires anyone with a garden to “register that with the government.”
Stand up for the facts!
Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy.
We need your help.
I would like to contribute
No need to hide the trowels and topsoil. USDA has no mandatory garden registry.
If Your Time is short
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a voluntary registration program for qualifying people who want to designate their gardens as People’s Gardens. But the agency doesn’t require Americans to register their gardens.
If you plant some veggies in your backyard, are you required to let the government know?
A recent Instagram post suggests as much.
"The USDA just came out and said, ‘Hey, if you grow your own food at home, if you have a garden, y’all need to come to our website and register that with the government so we know that you f— have it," a man says in a video posted June 4. Similar videos have been circulating on TikTok, too.
The Instagram video was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
We reached out to the U.S. Department of Agriculture about the claim but didn’t hear back.
Sign up for PolitiFact texts
Looking for evidence online, we found an October 2022 blog post that seemed to echo the Instagram video’s claims. The post claimed the department was "now asking people to register their vegetable gardens for national database."
The post cites the USDA’s People’s Garden program.
That program is a far cry from the claim that everyone and anyone must register personal gardens with the government. In fact, it’s voluntary.
A People’s Garden is a designation for farms and gardens that can be recognized if they meet several specifications, including incorporating sustainable practices and educating the public, according to the USDA.
Featured Fact-check
Qualifying gardens receive a People’s Garden sign to display and their location is posted on a map on the department’s website.
The USDA headquarters in Washington is home to a People’s Garden. Margaret Campbell, a department employee who took a Washington Post columnist on a tour of the garden, said: "We really want to educate people on how to do this at home in their communities. We want communities to know that the USDA has the services that can help them make gardening and small farming healthy and sustainable."
The People’s Garden initiative was expanded nationwide in September 2022. It wasn’t just announced, as the Instagram post claims. Nor does it require that anyone register their gardens with the government.
We could find no other initiative making such a demand.
We rate this post False.
Our Sources
Instagram post, June 4, 2023
Farm Service Agency, USDA Opens People’s Garden Initiative Nationwide, Sept. 15, 2022
Blog post, Oct. 5, 2022
U.S. Department of Agriculture, What is a People’s Garden?, visited June 21, 2023
The Washington Post, USDA’s People’s Garden is a bounty of health and community, May 30, 2023
Browse the Truth-O-Meter
More by Ciara O'Rourke
No need to hide the trowels and topsoil. USDA has no mandatory garden registry.
Support independent fact-checking.
Become a member!
In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts.