Bad Idea Chicken

One of the dopiest aspects of the current locavore movement is the craze for urban farming. Eons ago, our cities were full of livestock. Even when I was a kid, I remember going to the Byward Market in Ottawa and seeing live animals such as chickens and rabbits. But gradually we all smartened up and realised that urban livestock is a bad idea. It was hard on the animals,  completely disgusting,  and a public health hazard.

But the authenticity hoax relies on a great deal of misguided nostalgia for times that were actually rather bad, and so it is no surprise that an Ottawa City Councillor, Alex Cullen, is bringing forward a motion to allow residents to raise chickens in their backyard. When ignorant people are losing their heads, it helps to talk to others who actually know what they are talking about. And so kudos to Ottawa's morning CBC radio show, which talked to the head of the Ottawa Humane Society, Bruce Roney. 

Roney was unquicoval: This is a bad idea. It's clearly a fad, and Roney points out that people are going to quickly realize that raising chickens is a lot of work, very expensive, and not terribly aesthetic or hygenic. And the inevitable result is that when people find that they are spending $5 for an egg, they are doing to get out of the domestic chicken biz. And who will deal with the problem? The Humane Society. And as Roney says over and over again, "we don't need more work."

What he suggests you do, if you have a hankering for a local chicken egg, is this: Drive to the country and buy one. You'll save money, and save the Humane Society a huge headache.

You can stream the story here, scroll down to "Urban Chickens".