Glassboro Health Equity Coalition Supports Backyard Chickens
The Glassboro Health Equity Coalition continues to support food equity for residents of Glassboro through a variety of initiatives.
In June, coalition partners Felicita Johns, Melanie Stewart, and Leslie Spencer met with town council leaders to discuss the city’s ordinances regarding the raising of backyard chickens for eggs. Led by Ms. Johns, they prepared a presentation for City Council and delivered it at the council’s July meeting.
In the presentation, Ms. Johns described the ordinances of neighboring towns and counties that are supportive of raising backyard chickens and engaged the council members in a discussion of how Glassboro could provide additional support for residents who are interested in raising chickens for eggs.
The ideas that arose from the conversation included the creation of a brief training program for residents who wish to have chickens, developing a set of recommendations about 1) the appropriate number of chickens to own, 2) coop size and its placement in a yard, 3) the minimum property size necessary to raise chickens, 4) the use and distribution of eggs, and 5) what to do with the chickens when the owners no longer wish to have them.
The coalition partners are encouraged by the positive response of the City Council and plan to continue seeking support for this additional opportunity for home food production.
To learn more about the coalition and partner in this work, please visit https://www.planviz.org/food-health-equity.