A sign of the times! San Diego City Council voted on Jan. 31, 2012, to allow residents to keep chickens, goats, and bees, citing the importance of accessing local food. Read more here.
Archive for the ‘Local food’ Category
27 Jan
Hens Find a Home in Northbrook, IL
Nigel and Robert are two hens living in Northbrook, IL. Their coop placement could be a legal issue for their owners. Read more here.
27 Jan
Backyard Poultry Magazine on Legalizing Chickens
Many of you have been asking about how to legalize chickens in your community. Backyard Poultry magazine has a great article with tips and pointers on making hens legal in your area of residence! Read more about this here!
26 Jan
Toronto Eyes Backyard Hens, Eh?
In Toronto, laws currently ban backyard hens; however, according to a Canadian Press report dated Jan. 5, 2012, the city’s licensing and standards committee is voting on whether or not to consider a step toward lifting the ban. Continue reading more.
12 Jan
FACT Funding Local Farmers
Food Act Concerns Trust has a Healthy & Humane Farm Funds Project that will provide small grants, of up to $1500, to qualifying humane farmers who need assistance in improving the welfare of their farm animals. FACT will award grants for projects that (1) help farms transition to pasture-based systems, (2) improve the marketing of their humane products, or (3) more generally enrich the conditions in which farm animals are raised.
FACT’s Healthy & Humane Farm Funds Project is designed to empower farmers to positively impact farm animal welfare. Farmers often want to make on-farm changes to give their animals a better life, but sometimes need financial assistance to make it happen. FACT recognizes that farmers have the technical expertise to make farms more humane, and can effectively use small grants to make these changes.
To learn more, go to the Healthy & Humane Farm Funds Project webpage. That can be found here: http://www.humanefarmfunds.org/. The application and application guidelines can be found online. Deadline for applying is April 1, 2012.
Contact:
Lisa Isenhart
Humane Farming Program Manager
Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT)
773-525-4952
12 Jan
4 Feb., 2012: Mid-Atlantic Small Flock Poulty Expo
For my non-Chicago readers:
The University of Maryland Extension will host the Mid-Atlantic Small Flock Poultry Expo on Saturday, February 4, 2012 from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM at the University of Maryland Extension-Carroll County Office & Carroll County Agriculture Center, 700 Agriculture Center Drive, Westminster, Maryland, 21157.
For more information, click here.
23 Sep
Home Canning Workshop in Chicago, Sept. 25, 2011
Need to know what to do with all those tomatoes from your garden or the farmer’s market?
Learn to safely can tomato salsa in a boiling water canner and tomato sauce in a pressure canner this Sunday at Growing Home’s Su Casa Market Garden.
September 25, 2:00-4:00pm, RSVP required
5045 S. Laflin, Chicago
A $10 suggested donation covers cost of supplies.
Instructions will be provided in English and Spanish.
Space is limited to 15 guests.
For more information, please see
http://www.growinghomeinc.org/home/fall-canning-workshop-this-sunday.html
21 Sep
Make Your Voice Heard About Food in Cook County, IL
If you are a Cook County resident, this is for you! It comes from the Cook County Food System Steering Committee.
YOUR voice is important. Please share this with others.
**
This is a very exciting moment in Illinois and US food policy: One of the most populous counties in the country is considering the creation of a food council, as well as specific food issues.
If you live OR work in Cook County, your input is greatly desired. Below is an e-mail from the Cook County Department of Public Health, which is sponsoring this initiative. Basically, you can do two things:
1. Take a survey (deadline Sept. 29).
2. Attend a public meeting on Oct. 6, 2011. Pre-registration is absolutely required because space is limited.
Full details are below.
This is a great opportunity to make your voice heard about food production, food processing, food distribution, food retailing, food scrap management, and food systems and food policy in general. There are spaces for your personal comments on each page. Whatever you are most concerned about, please mention.
Do you live or work in Cook County, Illinois? If so, you are invited to complete a survey on how government laws, rules, ordinances, regulations and programs affect the way we eat, grow, transport, store, process, distribute, sell, or handle food or food waste.
The survey results will be used to create recommendations on what issues a proposed Cook County food policy council will focus its efforts. The Cook County food policy council is anticipated to be an official committee that explores cross-agency and cross-jurisdictional food issues and makes recommendations to the Cook County Board of Commissioners.
To access the survey, go to: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RJJTTSG
You may also answer this survey in Spanish by calling 708-633-8314 or e-mailing jbloyd@ccdph.net. Para contester esta encuesta en espanol, favor de llamar a 708-633-8314; o escriba a jbloyd@ccdph.net.
Please share this opportunity to provide input on the issues of importance related to food in Cook County by forwarding this email to others who live or work in Cook County.
To learn more about the survey or sign up to participate in developing recommendations based on the survey results, go to:http://www.cookcountypublichealth.org/healthy-communities/healthy-eating/food-system-survey
Made possible through funding from the Department of Health and Human Services, Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) grant. CPPW is a joint project between the Cook County Department of Public Health and the Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago.
15 Sep
Home to Roost at Windy City Coop Tour, Sept. 25
Home to Roost will be stationed at location #14 on the Coop Tour at 3532 W. Belden.
For more information on the tour, see Sept. 25, 2011: Windy City Coop Tour (formerly Henapalooza).
See you there
12 Sep
Sept. 17, 2011: Home to Roost at County Fair
Join Home to Roost at Garfield Park Conservatory’s County Fair event!
Saturday, September 17
Hours: 11 am – 4 pm
Where: Conservatory Grounds
Cost: $5 admission per person (includes all activities except pony rides; Members and children aged 3 and under are free!
“Celebrate the harvest and healthy communities at one of the Conservatory’s most popular events. This is a family-oriented day with programs and activities for all ages. Discover agricultural traditions, see the best in urban gardening, and enjoy horticultural exhibits and demonstrations. Children’s activities, petting zoo and garden displays highlight the connections between plants, food and American heritage….”
Home to Roost 