Cliff Notes: Urban Agriculture Community Forum

On Thursday, January 26, RAP joined forces with Sustainable Springfield to co-present a Community Forum on Urban Agriculture.  Topics included possible locations for a community garden in the Riverside Avondale Historic District and proposed Hen Legislation for Duval County.  This article presents general information about urban agriculture, notes from the meeting, and some key points for residents. 

Copyright: Robert Nickelsberg for TIME Magazine. Photo
of a former asphalt-covered playground in Brooklyn, NY

What is urban agriculture? As a national movement, urban agriculture is growing rapidly across the US. According to the USDA, around 15 percent of the world's food is now grown in urban areas. City and suburban agriculture takes the form of backyard, roof-top and balcony gardening, community gardening in vacant lots and parks, roadside urban fringe agriculture and livestock grazing in open space."* Amid escalating concerns about the environment, pesticides, and food safety, urbanites are turning to community gardens to supply their fruits and vegetables.  Cities are also creating gardens to address "urban food deserts," or areas where access to fresh fruits and vegetables is limited. 

Animal husbandry, of which urban hen-keeping is the most popular version, forms a significant part of the urban agriculture movement.  Sarasota, Austin, Charlotte, San Francisco, Little Rock, Mobile, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Boise, and Albuquerque all allow a limited number of hens on private property.  Proposed legislation is for hens in Duval County and a regulatory process.  Organizations such as Urban Chickens help dispel myths pertaining to urban chicken-keeping.

Community Forum Cliff Notes
Community Gardens in Riverside Avondale Historic District
Sally Robson, RAP Board Member and Master Gardener
Sally spoke about RAP's Green space Committee and efforts to start a community garden in Riverside Avondale Historic District.  Potential locations include: Willowbranch Rose Garden Park, Peace Memorial Garden (next to Rose Garden), and Fishweir Park.  There is a possibility to have more than one community garden. Some options include either a large, shared garden or individual plots. 

Jump-starting a Community Garden: Ideas and Partnership with Sustainable Springfield
Amanda Searle, Sustainable Springfield
Sustainable Springfield will be helping RAP set up one or more community gardens in Riverside Avondale. Amanda spoke about how Sustainable Springfield runs their community garden. Some of the most important aspects are establishing by-laws and annual dues that help keep the garden looking great and preventing issues from lack of maintenance.  By-laws help establish rules such as whether the garden will allow pesticides, size of plots, and other responsibilities of members.  The most important aspect is buy-in from the community in establishing how the garden should be run.


Urban Hen-keeping and Proposed Hen Legislation for Duval County
Lauren Trad, Hens in Jax
Benefits of urban hens:

·         Health – better source of protein than Concentrated Animal Feed Operations (CAFO’s) that send eggs to our grocery stores, often from poorly run facilities and months old by the time they are consumed.

·         Economic - Cheaper source of protein and promotes the local food movement that keeps more dollars and jobs in our local economy.

·         Safer – CAFO’s are more prone to E coli and salmonella and often use antibiotics and hormones  - McDonald’s just dropped a multi-state egg supplier after “serious violations” were found.

·         Education and Knowledge – Kids learn firsthand knowledge of where their food comes from and since they are home raised, we know that they are antibiotic and hormone free.

·         Environmentally sensitive – eggs are brought in from the backyard instead of hundreds or thousands of miles away.

·         Natural pest control – chickens eat worms, roaches, slugs, fire ants and termites among other pests.

·         Domesticated pet – in current Jacksonville coding, the following are considered domesticated animals – dog, bird, cat, rodent, such as a gerbil, guinea pig, hamster, domesticated mouse, and domesticated rat, domesticated or European ferret, rabbit, fish, nonvenemous reptile and amphibian.  Poultry is not.

Some misconceptions about urban hen-keeping:

·         Noise - Roosters will not be permitted and are not needed to produce eggs.  Laying hens make some soft noise when laying an egg, but are basically silent at all other times.  From sundown to sunup, because chickens can’t see in the dark, they lay quietly in their coop.

·         Odors – Much like a cat litter box, the laying hen’s coop does need cleaning from time to time.  Unlike cat’s, a hens waste is a great source of fertilizer for lawns and garden beds.   The slaughtering of chickens is expressly prohibited unless at a USDA approved facility.

·         Disease – Chickens carry far fewer diseases than cats or dogs.  As to “bird flu”, there has never been human infection in the US and the spread in Asia, Africa and Europe is largely due to the unsanitary and tight quarters seen more often in CAFOs. 

·         Attraction of predators – Raccoons are the most common predators to chickens and they exist in Jacksonville currently, usually feeding off the plates of outdoor cats and dogs, as well as the trash created and left out by humans.  Laying hens, when secured in proper coop at night, are safe from these nocturnal creatures.

Key elements from Proposed Draft Hen Legislation

·         As an accessory use to a permitted single family dwelling.

·       A maximum of 6 hens – no roosters.

·        Enclosing structure required, screened from street view, and consistent with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Services Publication.

·        Chickens are not raised for consumption.  Sale of eggs is already regulated and enforced by the State Department of Agriculture.

Restaurant Trends: Why Fresh Ingredients Matter
Brian Siebenschuh, Chef, Orsay Restaurant
Brian spoke about the trend of urban argiculture and the importance of providing fresh ingredients.  The Black Sheep Restaurant Group not only purchases meats  from local farms, but also has their own farm and grows their own ingredients.  Rather than a passing fad, fresh, sustainable food production is here to stay.  There is a marked difference in quality of food, in the opinion of many chefs.  7 of the top 10 Restaurant things Restaurant owners and chefs find to be important for 2012 pertain to locally-produced foods and sustainability.

Top 10 Trends for 2011- survey of over 1,500 chefs:
1) Locally-sourced meats and seafood
2) locally-grown produce
3) Sustainability
4) Nutritionally-balanced children's dishes
5) "hyper local" restaurants having their own gardens and chefs butchering their own meats.
6) Children's nutrition
7) Sustainable seafood
8) Gluten-free products and allergy-conscious dishes
9) Simplicity - "back to basics"
10) Farm/estate-branded ingredients


SOURCES & MORE INFO
* USDA, "Urban Agriculture: Farms and Community: Alternative Farming Systems Information Center.  http://afsic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=2&tax_level=2&tax_subject=301&topic_id=2719