WAYNE CREED
Urban Chickens Part of ‘Good Food’ Movement

Mattawoman Creek Farms in Eastville is Community Supported Agriculture.

Mattawoman Creek Farms in Eastville is Community Supported Agriculture.

By WAYNE CREED

October 6, 2014

During the past few months, the Town of Cape Charles has endeavored to create a policy which would allow homeowners to raise a few urban chickens in their backyards, while at the same time, residents out in the County are readying pitchforks and torches for Economic Development Director Charles McSwain, as he is viewed as the main driver in the move to change zoning — something that many see as a threat to their rural lifestyle.

The urban chicken movement is part of the “good food” movement — the interest and enthusiasm for organic, local, and sustainably grown food. As critics of the new zoning have pointed out, you can’t have sustainably grown food without proper environmental setbacks. The nostalgic yearning for a return to “good food” and a rural lifestyle, though disconnected by boundaries, intersects around one issue: the fundamental decline of the family farm in America.

The number of American farmers has been steadily declining, from just over 6 million in 1900 to only about 2 million now. Most American farmers are over 50 (the average is 57.3), and this demographic leads to a scenario where one quarter (almost 500,000) farmers will retire by 2030. This is even more detrimental to rural areas like the Eastern Shore. As farmland goes untilled, this leads to a further consolidation; that is, a transition away from working farms into estates or residential developments, which in turn leads to sprawl, congestion, and adverse environmental effects. For many, the way forward is to get more young farmers back in the game. However, this is easier said than done.

This issue is not lost on the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack noted in a recent speech, “The future of agriculture is bright and will present the next generation with incredible opportunities to pursue. Young people should continue to engage in policy that affects them, but they shouldn’t be limited by it.”

Note: Young or New farmer does not necessarily mean young in age. The show “Green Acres,” in which New York City attorney Oliver Wendell Douglas leaves Park Avenue to pursue his dream of becoming a farmer (much to the chagrin of his glamorous Hungarian wife (Eva Gabor)), epitomizes the Young Farmer Movement.

Even as the USDA acknowledges the need for young farmers, current federal and state agricultural policies are lagging when it comes to support and opportunities. USDA data lists that only 22 percent of beginning farmers turn a profit their first year. A report from the ‘The National Young Farmers Coalition” found that 73 percent of young farmers must work a second job just to pay the bills. The obstacles facing beginning farmers include farmland that is priced at residential developer rates rather than at “agricultural value” (costs much higher than most young farmers can afford), large startup costs, and few banks willing to make loans on what they consider a risky investment.

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The rural landscape, overall farm economy, and large industrial farm enterprises have made operating a family farm on the shore that much harder, yet national trends are encouraging. A recent survey by National Young Farmers Coalition has found that a large number of young people (some from non-farm backgrounds) are indeed going into agriculture, and more surprisingly, there is also a “higher level of interest among farm youth in staying on, or returning to, the family farm.”

At heart of the young farmer movement is the idea of sustainable agriculture, a holistic approach that produces food without harming the environment or abusing natural resources. It is an aesthetic and system of raising crops and livestock that works with nature and is inherently self-sustaining. At the same time, it is “agriculture of social values” whose successful implementation is founded on the belief in rich, self-sustaining rural cultures, families on the farms, and healthy food for everyone.

Sustainable farmers in the United States, Europe, and Great Britain are refining an ecology-based agricultural approach (natural, organic, low-input, alternative, regenerative, holistic, Biodynamic, bio-intensive, and biological) to farming systems. This “farming with nature,” agro-ecology approach promotes biodiversity, recycles plant nutrients, protects soil from erosion, conserves and protects water, uses minimum tillage, and integrates crop and livestock enterprises on the farm. More importantly, sustainable farming tends to work better on smaller, family-scale farms — ideal for the new farmer movement (especially as agricultural land on the Eastern Shore becomes less available).

Here on the Eastern Shore, getting new, young farmers started in a career in agriculture is still a daunting task. However, there are still things we can do and tools available. The Conservation Stewardship Program provides financial and technical assistance to farmers for conservation activities and improving and maintaining conservation systems. This program currently includes a 5 percent set-aside for beginning farmers. In states like Nebraska and Iowa, landowners are offered tax incentives for selling or leasing land to a beginning farmer. Another tool that can be leveraged is the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service which will match up to 50 percent of the price of a conservation easement through its Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program.

As we have witnessed over the last two decades, agricultural easements may not ensure that the land will be owned and operated by a farmer or that it will be affordable for a farmer to purchase. Here in Virginia, something like the Massachusetts Agricultural Preservation Restriction program, which requires that eased parcels be resold at “agricultural value,” is another way to keep working lands farmed.

One of the best and most important resources is the Virginia Beginning Farmer & Rancher Coalition Program out of Virginia Tech. The VBFRCP is a state-wide, coalition-based extension program with the goal “to improve opportunities for beginning farmers and ranchers to establish and sustain viable agricultural operations and communities in Virginia.” This is a soup to nuts program that focuses on the development and enhancement of whole farm planning curriculum and training, online resources, social networking, and farmer mentoring. Not to leave out the great work of 4-H Youth development programs, but that is fairly extensive topic all on its own.

As private citizens, especially in towns like Cape Charles, Cheriton, and Eastville, CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) are a good way to access affordable and healthy food, and help out new and old farmers at the same time (Mattawoman Creek Farms in Eastville and Perennial Roots in Accomac are great examples of established CSAs). CSAs help farmers by allowing them to spend time marketing the food early in the year and receive payment early in the season. This helps with the farm’s cash flow, as well as letting the farmers get to know the people who eat the food they grow.

Whether or not Cape Charles decides to allow urban chickens, or the Northampton zoning proposals edge further back towards the County’s comprehensive plan, the destiny of the Eastern Shore’s rural character will more than likely depend on how invested we remain in our agricultural roots. As usual, a good bit of it is up to us. After the fall harvest, and the air really gets cold, the winter is the time to contact that CSA and put in your orders for next season. It’s closer than you think.

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Comments

6 Responses to “WAYNE CREED
Urban Chickens Part of ‘Good Food’ Movement”

  1. Thomas D. Giese on October 6th, 2014 7:55 am

    We do not need chickens in the small lot layout of Cape Charles. If someone wants organtic eggs, they can go to QUAIL COVE. That is were I get my eggs.

  2. Dana Lascu on October 6th, 2014 9:17 am

    I vote that 10 chickens should be allowed in each of the new Cape Charles School apartments. It would be a big draw for potential renters. And, for now, we could all house our poultry there and pay that lonely worker in the building to take care of them.

  3. Deborah Bender on October 6th, 2014 10:39 am

    Chickens do not belong in the town of Cape Charles. A lot of the lots are very narrow and if the owners of the property surrounding the yard that wants chickens are against the chickens then it should be no. Period. Chickens are going to draw foxes and even the feral cats to come and have a tasty dinner. If someone wants to raise chickens maybe they should go out in the county and buy a farm. Last time I checked chickens are farm animals. And no, I don’t care how they do it anywhere else. This is my town and I don’t want stinky chickens.

  4. Steve Downs on October 6th, 2014 11:44 am

    Sounds like a great opportunity to rid the town of all the feral cats. As the chickens lure them in, capture them and send them to the shelters! Chicken coops with just a few chickens do not stink if they are maintained properly.

  5. Wayne Creed on October 6th, 2014 1:43 pm

    Just to clarify, this article does not mean to imply an endorsement of urban chickens in the Town of Cape Charles. Being from a long line of chicken farmers, I generally support an organic, free range egg operation; however, I recognize that the complications involved in doing so in a town this size may make it impractical. In order to make the article more user-friendly, the author attempted to keep the prose at a 5th grade level. This effort was put forth in the hopes that Mr. Wrucke and friends would not have to continually reference a dictionary or thesaurus just to get through it (see Mr. Wrucke’s thesaurus complaint here: http://capecharleswave.com/2014/09/commentary-drowning-does-not-merit-bickering-and-finger-pointing/). We always aim to please.

  6. Ron Wrucke on October 7th, 2014 11:14 am

    [To Wayne Creed:] My “thesaurus” comment was not a complaint! :-)