Toronto Chicken’s Toronto chickens Goldie, Ayr, Sally. Photo: TONY BOCK/TORONTO STAR
In Madison, Wisconsin over 150 families are raising chickens in backyards. FoodCycles inspiration, Growing Power Inc raises chickens in the north end of Milwaukee. In Toronto, we have a mom named Toronto Chicken advocating with a whole lot of other city agriculture folks about growing chickens in the city.
Apparently:
“Keeping chickens is prohibited everywhere in Toronto except on land zoned for agriculture. But it may become legal eventually, with the increasing popularity of locally grown and produced food.” (Via Toronto Star)
At the same time however cities like New York, Chicago and Vancouver are allowing backyard chickens to happen in different ways.
“For proponents of urban agriculture, it can’t happen soon enough – even big cities like New York and Chicago allow backyard chickens, to varying degrees.” (Via Toronto Star)
These aren’t small towns – they’re big cities we’re talking about. New York? Chicago? Something must be up right? I wouldn’t be surprised if we see this take off in hard hit Detroit as well.
FoodCycles is working on bringing, expanding and improving Growing Power’s model to Toronto. Ian Aley made a deputation about FoodCycles and urban chickens at the recent City of Toronto urban agriculture meeting.
“Ian Aley of Food Cycles, which is planning to farm on 0.2 hectares in Downsview Park this summer, volunteered to run a pilot project for the city.
“Chickens lay eggs all the time,” he said. “You would have a source of eggs that were fresh, healthy and on your doorstep.”
He said good regulations would include a “no roosters” rule and require that chickens be provided with a coop (to protect them from dogs or raccoons) and kept a certain distance from homes.
“There would need to be enough space, but we believe it can’t just be people with big yards,” he said, adding it could be a fenced-in area at an apartment building or a city park.”
ENDING REMARKS
Personally I know I’d love to have a chicken or two in my yard. I eat eggs every day as part of my self-defense training. It’s fresh from the yard, you know what’s in it and there’s no antibiotics or hormones which could affect you or your kids down the road.
What might be better is having a community chicken farmer in every neighbourhood or ward who you can buy local, organic free range eggs? Now there’s a thought. Ian suggests parks and fenced in areas of apartment buildings. In other countries they use rooftops and a yet to be released City of Toronto Health department food strategy report tells us we have 5000 hectares of flat roof tops in the city. In other nations, they even raise guinea pigs (perish the thought right?).
SIGN THE TORONTO CHICKENS PETITION
There are over 960 signatures supporting backyard chickens in Toronto. Show your support and sign it!
OTHER RESOURCES
Toronto Chicken: the Web site of Toronto Chicken a la carte
City of Toronto Bylaw: apparently pigeons and rabbits are allowed?
Toronto Chicken Flies Under the Radar
Backyard chickens on the rise – Los Angeles Times: “Reporting from Madison, Wis. — Jen Lynch and her family live in the heart of the city but roll out of bed to the sound of clucking chickens.
Their day starts with cleaning coops, scooping out feed and hunting for eggs for morning omelets. Eight families in a three-block radius and an estimated 150 families citywide do the same.
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Sunny Lam
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