Canada: Mississauga gets cracking on urban agriculture strategy to address food insecurity & climate change
Urban agriculture could offer a viable and sustained supply of produce to help those in need across the city.
By Natasha O’Neill
The Pointer
May 5, 2022
Excerpt:
One of the motivations for Mississauga to opt into a pilot project was after staff in 2021 saw an increase in interest from residents who want to own backyard hens, as the practice has spread across many parts of the world where the practice has previously not been common in urban areas. The City of Brampton was the GTA pioneer with backyard chickens, allowing residents to raise hens since 2012.
When the pandemic hit in March 2020, Grilo watched her small community of urban farmers on Facebook grow exponentially overnight. The explosion, she says, was due to many people fearing food chains would be disrupted entirely and everyday items like eggs would become scarce as the world shut down.
“This is not a program to have meat in your backyard,” Grilo said. “That is not the point of having urban hens, it is for the enjoyment of them. Yes, they lay eggs, yes, that’s a beautiful thing. [But] They are your pets, you need to commit to taking care of them just like you would a dog or a cat.”
Grilo explains hens only produce eggs for a few years meaning they are not a sustainable food source over a long period of time, but during a period such as the recent pandemic, many families around the GTA have enjoyed a steady supply of fresh eggs right from their backyard. A healthy chicken can lay one egg every day.
