GREAT news! Rapid City council member Aaron Costello will propose changing the current ordinance to allow city residents to keep a few backyard chickens! Backyard chicken keeping is a hugely popular hobby that is sweeping the country.  Cities big and small are changing their ordinances to allow citizens to responsibly keep a few chickens.

I have had the pleasure of keeping chickens for several years now so I would like to take a moment to dispel a few of the most common myths surrounding chickens.  First, chickens are NOT smelly.  It’s the chicken droppings that smell! The truth is that one medium-sized dog generates as much manure as five hens.  Unlike dog or cat manure which carries pathogens, chicken droppings are wonderful for composting and can do wonders for the yard and garden.

Secondly, chickens are NOT noisy.  The hens are actually pretty quiet, although mine do tend to cluck quite a bit after laying an egg.  (I think they do it to show off to their friends!) In any case, the noise generated by their clucking comes nowhere close to the neighbor’s dog who barks incessantly or the other neighbor who likes to mow his lawn at 7 a.m.  The roosters are a different matter altogether.  They are most definitely noisy and therefore are not permitted under most city ordinances.

Chickens do NOT attract more rodents and pests.  Any unguarded food left outside such as birdseed or pet food will attract rodents.  Even grass seed left in a potting shed can be a problem.  A well-designed and secure coop will not allow access to rodents, skunks, etc., and storing feed in predator-proof containers (I use aluminum trash cans inside the coop) is also a big deterrent to such nuisances.

Finally, chickens do NOT attract more predators than any other critter that might currently reside in your neighborhood such as rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, or small birds.  You might see the predators more often because the chickens are enclosed within their coop & run, but there are not necessarily more predators present.

Please come and show your support at the Public Works meeting on Tuesday, February 15th, at 12:30 p.m., in City Hall.  If you are unable to attend the meeting, I urge you to take a moment to e-mail the city council members.

After a long battle, the USDA approved yesterday the unlimited use of genetically modified (GM) alfalfa in the United States.  Unfortunately, the decision does nothing to protect farmers, especially organic ones, from potential cross-contamination of their crops.  Perhaps even more importantly, we do not know what, if any, long-term costs there may be for consumers of GM alfalfa.

Keeping in line with recent posts regarding GM crops on this website, I think it is important to note that USDA Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is considered to be a puppet of agribusiness biotech giants, including Monsanto.  As governor of Iowa, he frequently used Monsanto’s corporate jet. I would think that (amongst many other things he did in Iowa) would clearly show a conflict of interest, but apparently not.  It is beyond me to understand how these people are put into positions that are meant to safeguard consumers.

Anyhow, there IS one last possible measure to take, and that is to appeal directly to President Obama to override this decision.  Click here to send your message to the president!

(Edited to add that no one I know actually eats alfalfa directly, although there may be people who do! But, alfalfa is fed to dairy and beef cattle so things like milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, beef, etc., would all be affected.  Honey bees love alfalfa, too.)

Both the House and the Senate have passed the Food Safety Act, together with the Tester Amendment that protects small farmers. The bill now heads for President Obama’s desk for signature. Consumer groups consider this a big victory because the bill gives the FDA more control over our food supply, including the authority to require recalls, do more frequent inspections, and access company records. The Tester Amendment exempts producers with less than $500,000 in annual sales who sell most of their food directly to consumers within the state or within 275 miles of their production area.

We’d like to know your reaction to the bill, so send us a comment.

Last week, S.510: the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, passed the Senate committee and now will be voted on by the Senate within 60 days.  Recent outbreaks of food-borne illnesses, such as the tainted eggs from Iowa, have created a demand for the FDA to do more to protect consumer safety.  However, if this bill becomes law, it could have great implications for small, local farmers.  One amendment proposes exempting small, local farmers from some requirements of this bill.  But the debate continues among senators as to what constitutes small or local.  Click here to read Michael Pollan’s thoughts concerning the pros and cons of this bill.  The Food Freedom blog lists many of their concerns of the bill, especially the possibility that the FDA would have the power to control seed saving and the reasons they feel greater FDA authority would not reduce food-borne illnesses.  Let us know what you think concerning the effects this bill would have on South Dakota’s food producers.  Better yet, send your thoughts to your senators.

After a legal challenge, Monsanto has released information from its study of rats fed three strains of its genetically modified corn.  According to the report, the rats suffered organ damage in just three months.  Interestingly, all three strains of corn are commonly raised in the United States, but only one is raised in Europe.

As I posted yesterday, the USDA has extended its comment period on another Monsanto product, Roundup Ready Alfalfa, until Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010.  You can make your voice heard on this important issue by taking action now.