12 years ago a small town in Belgium tried a common sense approach to solving an issue they were facing. ie: Too much food was ending up at the dump. Instead of building a bigger dump to accomodate more recycling(doesn't stop the problem), forcing composting at home(smells bad when done wrong) or trucking it elsewhere they came up with an actual solution.
They gave each household 3 free chickens if they had room for them. 2,000 homes participated and promised not to eat the chickens for at least 2 years. In the first year alone the dump received a hundred tons less food waste, the chickens ate the food scraps!
In return the chickens ended the town's dependence on buying eggs, each house had all the free eggs they needed, enough to share. Owners occasionaly received some meat as well when aged chickens were replaced by hatching some of the eggs.
With eggs, fresh, frozen or canned vegetables(preferably in that order) and a bag of rice the citizens reportedly cut their monthly food bill substantially while eating well. Sure, you need to weed the garden and feed the chickens which takes 5-10 minutes a day but it's a good trade, for everyone.
This was 2010. it never became a thing. Media is currently frightening us with "carbon pawprints" and blaming pets for part of climate change, as if the pets can speak for themselves when abused as a result of tossing stigma on them.
Hint: You can make your own fresh pet food with the chicken meat and rice, too, to supplement the new meatless stuff at the pet store, and keep pets healthy.
Or we can take the easy way, tax burps and farts but change nothing(besides giving gov more money), and then go yell at each other on Twitter about it right?
Towns in France and Indonesia did their own trial runs of giving chickens out and it worked there too. Unfortunately it steps on the toes of food "product" producers and quickly ends these programs. Small towns in poorer nations with fewer politics already raise community chickens, they know. Why don't we(now more than ever)?
Instead of new taxes for owning a dog or a cat people should be encouraged to garden and raise a few chickens, the impact on the monthly food bill, the waste and the environment is not nothing when we live with the animals.
Even the rich know this - ask Bill Gates what he would do if he went broke - he says he'd raise chickens! (from his blog in 2016 before Trump and then Covid dominated headlines) [
gatesnotes.com...]
Unfortunately packaged product is still far too profitable and convenient. The problem is us, the solutions which don't include taxation are out there.
Just sharing some thoughts. Yes, I understand that some may think "can't do that, they spread disease!" to which I reply, they make the environment healthier and it's what worked before biotech, politics, big business and lobbyists became friends. Besides, wasn't climate change the problem? Our animal friends can help solve it, we should make room for them. It's their planet too. Perhaps people living in too close a proximity to other people and vacationing abroad spreads as much disease?
Awareness makes you smarter if you make your own decisions. If you weren't on to chicken benefits, now you are. Food for thought(or is that think for food)?!
P.S. Plant an apple tree, too, anything but planting more division on social media.
