"Group Calls for Urban Chickens"

Metro Calgary published a story today about the push to legalize chickens in Calgary. Unfortunately, they confused a few of the details (I'm not involved in CLUCK- as much as I would love to be associated with the work they're doing,) but it is really great to see media starting to pick up on specific issues related to urban agriculture. Thanks Jennifer!

Here's the story, written by Jennifer Hillicker:

If you can’t afford to buy fresh meat in today’s economy, one Calgary group has a solution — raise it at home.

The Calgary Liberated Urban Chicken Klub (CLUCK) wants city council to update the Calgary Municipal Code in order to permit the responsible raising of backyard chickens.

“The major benefit of backyard chickens is food security,” said Rachel Simpson, who is involved with CLUCK through Calgary Urban Agriculture. “It’s pretty key, especially in Calgary right now. Calgary is a little bit lacking as far as how much food we get locally and how much food people grow themselves. The idea of growing your own food develops a pride in your community.”

The group is petitioning city council to follow in Vancouver’s footsteps, which approved bylaws to legalize the keeping of urban hens on March 5.

They say benefits include the fact that chickens produce a rich fertilizer by-product, they eat table scraps, reducing municipal organic waste, and they produce fresh, healthy eggs.