Saturday, June 18, 2011

CLUCK NEWS: City Chicken Project A Force for Community in NYC

During our campaign to re-legalize chickens in the City of Sarasota, CLUCK argued that backyard chickens have the ability to build and strengthen neighborhoods. Now, New York Times Opinion writer Laura Anderson has written a piece documenting the City Chicken Project, "which brings egg-laying hens, necessary coop-building equipment, and training to urban gardens and schools in underserved neighborhoods."



Anderson continues: The City Chicken Project is about as win-win as you can get: It gives low-income people better access to good, clean, healthy food; improves the quality of the soil in urban farms; engages community members in the production of their food; and educates kids about where their food comes from. The best part, perhaps, is that it’s truly grassroots. Just Food isn’t foisting chickens on communities that cannot support them; to the contrary, it gives chickens only to applicants that have the necessary space, time, manpower, and enthusiasm to raise chickens."

The City Chicken Project is using Kickstarter to expand the program and as of June 20th, they needed less than $2000 in the next six days to be funded. They have applicants waiting in Brooklyn, Harlem, Queens and the Bronx. To learn more about the City Chicken Project (including a video) and possibly pledge, click here. If they don't reach their goal, your pledge will be voided -- you only contribute if they reach their pledge goal.


JUNE 25TH UPDATE, THIS PROJECT REACHED ITS GOAL EARLY AND WILL BE FUNDED!


What your contribution provides:
$15 - 1 pullet or adult laying hen (most coops begin with a flock of around 12 chickens)
$50 - Supplies like a waterer or a feeder
$100 - 1 workshop on chicken health, care and maintenance
$1000 - A community build day with a volunteer supervisor and an expert coop-building carpenter (most coop-building projects require more than one build day, more than one person to supervise, and a tremendous outpouring of volunteer support )
$1500 - materials for one coop

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