http://www.clf.org/blog/rhode-island/lets-bring-backyard-chickens-back-to-rhode-island/ For a thriving New England Tue, 17 Sep 2013 23:46:02 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6.1 http://www.clf.org/blog/rhode-island/lets-bring-backyard-chickens-back-to-rhode-island/#comment-2847 Alex Fri, 29 Mar 2013 13:46:20 +0000 http://www.clf.org/?p=14339#comment-2847 This change of ordinance in Woonsocket definitely needs to pass. It is a zoning law that, given our recent decrease in population, and peoples’ rising awareness of where their food comes from, has simply outlived its usefulness. As an initial blanket ban on farm animals, reversing only small part of it, simply to allow hens in the residents’ backyards, is a progressive step in the right direction towards greater food security.
This is an issue of personal freedoms and property rights, and one of environmental responsibility and food independence.
Unfortunately, there are people in the city who are adamantly opposed to this, who flood the public forums untruths, or insist that “chickens don’t belong in the city”. This type of argument risks the health of our democratic process, and I hope that, in the end, the side of progressive environmental sustainability, democratic freedoms, and the quiet enjoyment of our property prevails.

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