The Belgian city of Antwerp certainly seems to think so….. This novel idea has been implemented in Antwerp, offering free chickens to it’s residents in a move to reduce household food waste whilst providing Antwerps residents with a free source of protein in the form of eggs.
The cities environments department hatched the scheme as part of a broader strategy to tackle food waste in urban areas, Chickens are natural food waste disposers, and will happily peck away at a whole range of food waste, cooked and uncooked, happily devouring food scraps that would traditionally be sent to landfill. In addition to the benefits in waste disposal they are also fun to have in the garden and make great pets, are a source of free protein in the form of eggs and the waste produced by the chickens makes fantastic compost for use elsewhere in the garden.
In the first year alone the programme has produced results with households reporting an average of 50kg per household of food waste being devoured by the Chickens instead of going into landfill, and with over 1,000 residents already involved in the scheme that translates to around 50 tonnes of food waste diverted away from landfills annually in addition the birds produced around 300,000 eggs providing a significant saving to residents, and a fantastic free range, organic source of protein.
The city didn’t just give away Chickens though, they partnered with local poultry farms to make sure residents received healthy, well cared for birds, and also offered comprehensive support to their new owners to0 make sure that residents were able to keep their birds in tip top condition. Support included all aspects of caring for your chickens including coop construction, feeding practices and egg production, as-well as dealing with common health problems. The city also arranged workshops and helped to establish community support networks to help new chicken keepers get used to keeping their new pets in their gardens.
But most surprising of all has been the response from Antwerps participating residents, not only have they reduced their household waste, but the scheme has also brought about unexpected social and community benefits, with residents participating in community meet ups, and even bringing their birds along too. These local meet-ups have brought a sense of community with residents sharing tips and helping each other with coop building etc and raising participants interest in sustainable and green living, with many setting up composters either on their own or as a community in order to turn the waste from the chickens in to high grade compost for use on their own and in newly formed community gardens.
