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Many forms of urban agriculture have existed for thousands of years.

As practical and environmentally responsible as growing food within a city can be, the art of gardening has seemingly disappeared in many urban settings. As current farming practices are proving to be unsustainable in the long-term, urban agriculture is looked upon by many as being a critical shift that needs to take place if we are to ensure a level of food security in the near and distant future.

Since March 2008, the Farming in the City series has been incorporating a focus on urban backyard chickens.

Raising poultry within an urban setting provides eggs, fertilizer, garden help and meat with a minimal environmental footprint. Having suffered decades of disconnection from our food, bringing the farm (and in this case animals) into the city can provide a much-needed dose of agriculture and food awareness. It's this very disconnection that has allowed for the appalling conditions now found in factory egg and chicken barns.

Lending its voice yet again to the series is Bucky Buckaw and his Backyard Chicken Broadcast. Produced in Boise, Idaho at Radio Boise, Bucky hosts weekly segments on backyard chickening. His experience and knowledge can help guide any urbanite wishing to set up backyard chickens.

On this second episode of the series, we listen in on five Bucky Buckaw episodes: "Breeds," "Cleanliness," "Poop," "Pre-Manufactured Chicken Coops" and "The Economics of Commercial Backyard Chickening."

Guests/voices

Bucky Buckaw, host, Bucky Buckaw's Backyard Chicken Broadcast (Boise, Idaho) -- Bucky Buckaw gives advice on raising backyard chickens, as just one example of how a locally-based economy can work. Through this segment, he informs listeners about the downside of factory farming and what kinds of toxic chemicals you can expect to find in the resultant livestock. He promotes organic gardening and composting, and supporting local farmers. He shares fascinating chicken lore from the millennia that will fascinate even those with no interest in birds.

Related Tyee stories:

• Backyard Chickens
  With Bucky Buckaw and his 'Backyard Chicken Broadcast.'
• Social Fertilizer
  The big growth potential of urban agriculture.
• More Deconstructing Dinner