"Urban farmers should pay a nominal yearly fee, perhaps $100 per participating farm, to fund animal husbandry inspections."

This was one of the many ideas submitted at Thursday night’s city of Oakland urban farming community meeting.

The deal went down by the Berkeley Marina. Matt Markovich handed over several hundred dollars to a man in a van and drove away 70 pounds heavier.

“It was like Miami Vice contraband,” Markovich, 36, said recently while sitting at the dining room table in his cozy Oakland home.