Planning Pool

A mobile poultry processing unit slaughters hens on a farm in Massachusetts. Thanks to Chrisdat on Flickr for the great Creative Commons photo!

In tackling the subject of British Columbia’s meat inspection regulations, I must begin by admitting that I am not the likeliest author. For starters, I’m a vegetarian. Secondly, although someday I would love to keep urban chickens, my agricultural experience is pretty much limited to growing herbs and tomatoes on my apartment patio. However, the economic viability of BC farming affects everyone in the province who eats, including urbanites. Draconian provincial meat inspection regulations create a barrier to local economic development in BC’s small towns and rural places, and to food security throughout the province. Local food activists contend that … Continue Reading

Hundreds of Edmontonians came out to City Hall last Monday to support the second reading of the new draft growth plan, The Way We Grow. Thanks to Mastermaq on flickr for the wonderful Creative Commons photo!

Thanks largely to a local alliance of citizen advocates, the City of Edmonton, Canada, is moving forward with a draft Growth Plan that gets serious about food security. The Greater Edmonton Alliance, composed mostly of churches and unions, has played a key role in shaping the draft plan, entitled The Way We Grow. (A giant PDF file lurks behind the link, but is definitely worth a read.)

Edmonton is located at the northern edge of North America’s wheat belt and is surrounded by a wealth of productive farmland, especially … Continue Reading

In case it is not yet obvious, chickens are now hip. Reacting to concerns about local food security, factory farming and dislocation between urban dwellers and their food, people who used to buy their eggs at the store are deciding instead to keep a few hens in a backyard coop. Cities around North America are changing their bylaws to allow households to keep chickens. Posh dwelling options for these urban hens abound, including stylish molded plastic Eglus imported from England.

The photo from Seattle shows children at last year’s Northwest Folklife Festival checking out the Seattle Urban Farm Co’s display. The little purple and yellow coop, built from recycled materials, illustrates the minimum amount of backyard space that residents would need to devote … Continue Reading

Today’s post comes to you from Toronto Chickens, the blog of an underground hen-keeper in Canada’s largest city, where urban hens are not yet legal. As (s)he notes: “Living with chickens below the radar could be stressful at times. Sadly, despite the fact that I would like to share with you my identity, I have to be chicken about it and thus the name Toronto Chicken.”
This post, originally published at Toronto Chickens, addresses the important question of whether urban hens meaningfully contribute to food affordability. Toronto Chicken argues that they do!

Many people have asked me just how much it costs to produce a dozen organic backyard chicken eggs. Time to show off my … Continue Reading

Creative commons hen photo from Loungerie on Flickr.

We hope that will enjoy this upcoming week of posts about urban chickens in policy and practice! To kick off Chicken Week, we present a story about a very special urban chicken as told by Vancouver-based musician Craig McGregor. He begins disarmingly with “I don’t feel like playing a guitar solo; I feel like telling you a story!”

To my mind, his (true!) tale perfectly presents the disconnected, uncomfortable and absurd relationship that many urban North Americans have with our mainstream, industrial food system. It’s also very funny.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Special thanks to Craig McGregor and to Celtic Traditions, the tiny and wonderful Vancouver folk music venue where this concert was recorded.

Once central to urban  life, most North American public markets closed in the mid-twentieth century. Refrigeration, motordom, processed food and the rise of supermarkets all played a role in their decline.

With increasing public interest in local eating, recent years have seen a reversal of fortune for public markets. According to the American nonprofit organization Project for Public Spaces, the number of farmers markets in the United States more than doubled from 1,755 to over 3,700 in the ten years between 1994 and 2004!

Edmonton’s Old Strathcona Farmers Market was founded 25 years ago and is still going strong. Unusual among farmers’ markets, it operates Saturdays year-round in a permanent home, a large heritage building which was once a trolley depot.  Goods … Continue Reading

Last March, as part of the SCARP Symposium on Sustainability, Adam Kumbede Education Programme Coordinator of Check Your Head (www.checkyourhead.org) joined other food activists to share his ideas on the subject of Food Sovereignty, embracing the question, “How are we in Metro Vancouver planning for systems that support the production of healthy and culturally appropriate food using ecologically sound and sustainable methods? What does a just urban food system look like?” Following the session, Adam took a few moments to speak about his work with Check Your Head:

Planning Pool’s Interview with Adam of Check Your Head Youth Education from Planning Pool on Vimeo.

Next Sunday, Vancouver’s biggest community garden hosts its annual open house. Check out garden tours, workshops, beekeeping demonstrations, a native plants display, live acoustic music and free vegan snacks!

Musicians take a break at the 2007 Strathcona Community Gardens open house.

When:     Sunday, July 12, 2009
Where:   Strathcona & Cottonwood Community Gardens
(Just off the Adanac bike route. See map below.)
Time:      10am – 2pm
Cost:       Free!

Perhaps like all community gardens, the Strathcona and Cottonwood gardens have wonderful stories in their soil. In the 1950s and 1960, the site served as a garbage dump and a city works yard. Since the 1980s, the land has been completely restored through the efforts of hundreds of volunteers. Today, the gardens thrive in a seven-acre urban oasis that is also a living example of urban … Continue Reading

What are the challenges facing planners and policy makers in addressing issues related to food security and public health? How can we contribute to effective actions that address these challenges? Join  representatives from the City of Vancouver, City of Surrey, UBC Farm, and BC Healthy Communities at the upcoming PlanTalk for discussion on these issues this Monday.

When: Monday, April 27, 2009.
Appetizers and networking from 6:30-7:00 PM, to be followed by presentations and discussion from 7:00-9:00 PM.

Location:     Room 1600, SFU Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings St., Vancouver, BC

Who: Featuring the following speakers:
• Samara Brock, Social Planner, Food Policy Staff Team member, City of Vancouver
• Mark Bomford, Program Coordinator Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm
• Mark Allison, Senior Policy Planner, City of Surrey
• Deirdre Goudriaan, Fraser Region Facilitator, BC Healthy Communities
• Paris Marshall-Smith, MA candidate, SCARP (moderator)

Cost:
$20 PIBC Members*
$25 Non-PIBC … Continue Reading