<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for Small-scale slaughterhouses are vital to the health of local food economies]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by Biodiversivist http://www.grist.org/article/dispatches-from-the-fields-playing-chicken-with-local-food/ Thu, 18 Sep 2008 04:42:14 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/dispatches-from-the-fields-playing-chicken-with-local-food/1 Great article

We have a few chickens. I am amazed at how much food they can find in a small weed field (my back yard). We have had to confine them lately because they sneaked out and pecked a few of our neighbor's tomatoes. They are going through their feed like there is no tomorrow and this stuff isn't cheap anymore (for reasons I just can't fathom).

Your article also points out the importance of removing regulatory impediments. Government can help and it can get in the way.

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

]]> Great article

We have a few chickens. I am amazed at how much food they can find in a small weed field (my back yard). We have had to confine them lately because they sneaked out and pecked a few of our neighbor's tomatoes. They are going through their feed like there is no tomorrow and this stuff isn't cheap anymore (for reasons I just can't fathom).

Your article also points out the importance of removing regulatory impediments. Government can help and it can get in the way.

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

]]> Comment #2 by Steph Larsen http://www.grist.org/article/dispatches-from-the-fields-playing-chicken-with-local-food/ Sun, 21 Sep 2008 00:27:59 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/dispatches-from-the-fields-playing-chicken-with-local-food/2 Chickens eat anything

Having grown up in the city, I used to think that chickens had a particular diet. It wasn't until visiting a farmer in New Mexico that I learned differently. They had 3 buckets under the sink: one for paper to go in the compost pile, one for coffee grounds and citrus peels to put around the orange trees (the soil was too basic), and all other food waste they fed to the chickens. I never would have believed chickens would eat a banana peel, but they did. Of course, they didn't have lots of chickens, but they were definitely well fed.

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Having grown up in the city, I used to think that chickens had a particular diet. It wasn't until visiting a farmer in New Mexico that I learned differently. They had 3 buckets under the sink: one for paper to go in the compost pile, one for coffee grounds and citrus peels to put around the orange trees (the soil was too basic), and all other food waste they fed to the chickens. I never would have believed chickens would eat a banana peel, but they did. Of course, they didn't have lots of chickens, but they were definitely well fed.

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