A couple of generations ago, having Chickens was a key part of your family’s health and food security. However, in recent generations, many cities have enacted bylaws to prevent chickens or other farm animals from being raised in an Urban or Suburban area.
This article from today’s Toronto Star….
Toronto bylaws forbid keeping poultry, for health reasons. On the other hand, pigeons raised for sport are allowed, provided they rest, roost or perch only on their owner’s property.
Oddly, by raising a few chickens in the city, Alice is in step with a do-it-yourself food movement that is thriving in cities like New York, Portland, Chicago and Seattle. It’s legal to keep chickens in those cities and dozens more in the United States.
TheStar.com | GTA | Poultry in motion: Chickens adopting urban lifestyle
The gentrification that leads to banning farm animals is finally being reversed in many cities, we’re waiting for it to happen even in Rural Canadian Cities. For all the talk of a 100 mile diet, not much is being done to promote local food security from a provincial stand point, (see the BC meat regulations). At a local level – for those who want to try Urban Farming, if it’s not permitted by your City’s bylaws, try petitioning council to remove or amend the bylaw to allow chickens and miniature goats as a starting point.
Check out this video from the Wall Street Journal – there’s also an article to go with it here.
[adsense:468x60:1:1]
If you enjoyed this post, why not try these ones:
- Backyard Chickens
- Why Urban Farming Reporting Doesn’t Include Animals
- Edible Urban Agriculture
- The Case for Urban Chickens and Goats
- Urban farming school
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
How is it that 13 years ago,
How is it that 13 years ago, people were writing this about Urban Areas, and it’s only with the publication of a little book called the 100-Mile Diet that the media actually jumps on it?
Jac Smit and Joe Nasr – Farming In Cities
Here’s an interesting
Here’s an interesting link related to Chickens and Municipal bylaws…
Urban Chickens: urban chicken laws: how to write your own