Bizarre — Why Is Michigan Govt. Trying to Derail Detroit-Area's Urban Farming Movement?

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/environment/bizarre-why-michigan-govt-trying-derail-detroit-areas-urban-farming-movement




Michiganders who raise chickens, goats and ​honey ​bees on their residential property have had their right to keep livestock stripped away by the state’s Agriculture and Rural Development Commission, which says they are not protected by the same laws as commercial farms. Urban parts of Michigan, particularly Detroit, have been enjoying a renaissance of small-scale farming in recent years. Much of it has been in the form of community farms, residents providing food for themselves, and small entrepreneurs who sell fresh eggs, dairy, honey, and produce to their neighbors, sometimes off the books.

Commission Chair Diane Hanson said that the state’s previous agricultural management rules “were not suitable for livestock in urban and suburban areas.” Now, properties not zoned for agricultural use with 13 or more residences within an eighth of a mile or another residence within 250 feet may be required to cease keeping livestock if asked by local authorities.

Many urban and suburban farmers had assumed that the state’s Right to Farm Act, made law in 1981, extended to those who raise livestock in residential areas and allowed ​them to have livestock without being considered a nuisance, as long as the rules of the Act were followed. The law was originally written to protect farmers from residential encroachment impacting their agricultural operations.​​

This ruling not only has backyard farmers upset, it has been met with opposition from environmental groups. The state’s chapter of the Sierra Club says that the new changes will effectively remove all protections for those raising animals on urban lots or on small acreages.

[TransitJohn]

1. Let's get real. Archer Daniels Midland's profits are at stake. eom

n/t

[rhett o rick]

12. They used to be a major sponsor of PBS. Partly why I stopped listening to it. nm

[WinkyDink]

2. Because The People must be kept down. The 1% wants utter collapse of the Middle Class.

[ancianita]

3. It's corporate agriculture politics working to control the food supply of The People.

[heaven05]

6. +1000

[Enthusiast]

4. Those people that want to grow their own food do not understand reality.

According to the Republicans like Paul Ryan they're supposed be too lazy to grow their own food.

I kid.

[heaven05]

5. the snyder snake/RW

machine does not want people self sufficient.They, contrary to their claims want people on the dole so they can show the misguided dummies that vote for them, see! see! that's all they want is a handout! Politics in amerika is one vicious, mean exercise in the abuse of power over people. and may I add, because of the corporate and special interest money that completely controls our voting process, an ever growing exercise in futility and frustration.

[Armstead]

7. Lightning strike me down but -- There are legitimate reasons for this

In a case like this, the devil is always in the details.

I totally agree with those who say it should not simply be used as a bludgeon to suppress food self-sufficiency or competition to big agribusiness. And I trust the governor of Michigan as far as I can throw him.

But.....

Raising livestock and keeping chickens is not the same as a nice little plot of land with fruit and vegetables.

Farm animals can be smelly, noisy and carriers of disease and insects if not tended for properly. There are circumstances where it is not good to have a heavily concentration of people and animals crowded together.

Therefore it can't just be allowed to happen totally unregulated.

So it will all depend on how officials -- particularly local officials -- choose to enforce it. There will be case-by-case situations where it is not good for people or the animals to be in urban settings with no regulation on sanitary care, humane conditions, etc.

[Springslips]

9. Thank you!

I am glad that someone in this thread isn't a kneejerking, thoughts distorted, conspiracy theorist. There are very good reason why farming should be regulated in urban areas. They need to come up with a good compromise there.

[eppur_se_muova]

11. Exactly. No one's trying to stop anyone from growing veggies ....

it's just livestock that need to be limited, for sanitary reasons.

Ever smell a chicken coop ? You wouldn't want to live too close to one.

[Mojorabbit]

19. I have six chickens in a huge coop. I replace hay bedding often. no smell. nt

[Eleanors38]

13. Detroit officials initially opposed urban farming when municipal government began to collapse...

They soon discovered they needed every tax-payer they could get, and let new citizens and old buy up houses and vacant lots in the city for jaw-droppingly low prices, and start farming. It was and is a good move on their part.

Those mini-gardens and chicken coops must be maintained without burdening the growers with expensive regulations. I would like to see a far less blunt force, one-size mentality than this law. My neighborhood in downtown South Austin is a flipping-realtor's wet dream, yet I wake up a couple houses from folks who have chickens. No one seems to mind. And it's legal.

We need to see who is actually affected and how.

[Armstead]

14. It's the same principle that aplies to all regulations

And it's why conservatives are conservatives.

Regulations are a pain in the ass, but they are necessary. The same reason exists to regulate urban arm animals as they do to prevent corporate factory farms from becoming unregulated, inhumane pest houses.

I agree the regulations on urban farmers should not be burdensome in a way the stifles it completely. But there is a need for something.

[Eleanors38]

17. Sounds like the problem is with hooved animals, bees, and

the commercial aspect. Instead of dealing with a "commercial" definition, perhaps a product-to-size of acreage standard can be applied, with an over all top-end tract size limitation.

Animals, perhaps the same way, but with buffers, housing, and sanitary standards.

Bees are a fear-factor issue. I wade through those guys when bird hunting; not just wild ones, but with commercial hives standing about.

[marmar]

8. k/r

[NBachers]

10. There must be convoys of well-armed militias heading to Michigan to protect these farmers

[Eleanors38]

16. They already have LAID (Legally Armed in Detroit)

Seriously, some residents ward off thugs and home invaders by scattering empty shotgun shells across their porches, garlic to vampires. But many more are armed. According to LAID, most city council members pack, no matter their public stance on gun-control. Rough place, Detroit. But many people making a go of it. Farming should be protected by law.

[Thespian2]

15. Problem

If people in Michigan are allowed to raise their own food, including animals, then they would be eating healthy, nutritious foods. Such an ungodly thing might help them live longer. Nope, corporations cannot tolerate that...a healthy population living longer, not eating the poisonous garbage they put on the grocers' shelves.

[L0oniX]

18. Because it's not Monsanto approved?