In Support of Urban Agriculture
Does Long Beach really want to maintain and enforce arbitrary laws that seem to deny individuals the “basic human right” to raise their own “safe”, “nutritious”, “culturally acceptable”, “ecologically sustainable”, “affordable” food? These words in quotes were taken from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s executive directive: Healthy and Sustainable Food for San Francisco. Applause to Gavin Newsom for his insight. Applause to First Lady Michelle Obama for planting a food garden at the White House. Applause to the Dervaes family’s urban homestead in Pasadena and Novella Carpenter’s squatter farm in Oakland. Applause to all the cities that have legalized miniature goats, including San Francisco and Seattle. Let’s not abandon and condemn the agricultural roots of our city’s past and our hope for a sustainable future. Let’s join San Francisco and Seattle by making Long Beach the progressive, inclusive, diverse city that it claims to be.
I am a mother, a wife, an educator, a scientist, a member of our local community garden, and a practitioner of nourishing traditions that include urban agriculture as part of my back to the basics philosophy of feeding and nurturing my family. As such, to supplement the food and culinary and medicinal herbs that I raise in my community garden plot, I so far have had seven female chickens and two female Nigerian Dwarf dairy goats in my urban back yard, to ultimately provide my family with a renewable source of fresh eggs and goat milk dairy products from happy, well-cared for animals that roam freely within the confines of their yard and enjoy all the nourishing sun there is to see and feel.
Yet, Monday November 9, 2009, a city inspector cited us for violation of an ill-devised city code that limits or prohibits chickens and goats in certain residential neighborhoods, defined by an arbitrary boundary. This city inspector undoubtedly was responding to a call from a neighbor who heard the birds and goats in our yard; during the course of her investigation of this “complaint,” the city inspector of course heard the goats and birds because they were responding to her presence on our front porch. They are very social animals and also good alarm animals.
I am asking that the City of Long Beach’s code and attitude be changed to permit backyard urban agriculture throughout the city. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom essentially mandated permitting just this, having conducted an audit of unused land that can contribute to urban agricultural practices including gardening and farming. The mandate states “Food production and horticulture education will be encouraged within the City and, to the extent feasible, on City owned land, through urban agriculture including community, backyard, rooftop, and school gardens; edible landscaping, and agricultural incubator projects.” The mandate further states that residents must be allowed “the opportunity to make healthy food choices and reduce environmental causes of diet and related illnesses.” In my opinion, one such food choice is to raise one’s own poultry and other small livestock such as dairy animals and even meat animals.
People might choose to raise their own food (including animals) for any number of legitimate cultural, social, economic, environmental, personal health, and even spiritual or religious reasons, including to ensure the safety of their own food, to ensure the integrity and humanity by which it was raised, to contribute to ecological sustainability, to provide wholesome outdoor activities for their families, to educate themselves and their families, to reconnect with the earth that provides us sustenance, to save money, to feed their families even during hard times, and to establish food independence.
Perhaps not every American wishes to become so intimate with their food sources, (perhaps some would prefer to remain totally ignorant) but those of us that do should not be denied this basic human right regardless of whether or not one lives in a big city (by choice or necessity or misfortune).
In a city that is rated third nationally in terms of community gardens per capita and
boasts numerous Farmers’ Markets and Community Gardens, including six organic gardens under the auspices of Long Beach Organic (LBO), it seems hypocritical that the city of Long Beach would have zoning laws that prohibit rather than encourage these practices. Is this the same California that takes pride in Berkeley’s Jessica Prentice who spawned the local food (aka locavore) movement, and Alice Waters of Berkeley’s Chez Panisse who has helped to pave this way of life across the nation?
The Long Beach Municipal Code places a 100 ft restriction on the distance between the location of livestock, including goats, on private property and the residence(s) of neighbors unless the neighbors give exception. One problem with this code is that this setback restriction excludes virtually all Long Beach residents. Moreover, another problem with this code is that small and relatively innocuous livestock (e.g. Nigerian Dwarf goats, Pygmy goats, sheep) are equated with large and messy livestock (e.g. ox, steer, bull, cow, hog, etc.) and subject to the same restrictions.
My Nigerian Dwarf goats each probably weigh less than 50 pounds, the size of a medium-sized dog.
Nigerian Dwarf goats’ fecal waste is comprised of small, dry pellets that are easy to sweep up and dispose of. Better yet, since goat pellets are in essence partially composted goat food (mostly undigested hay), they enrich the soil where they land, they can be directly applied to the garden as fertilizer, or they can be further composted either by traditional composting, vermiculture, or chicken-powered composting. This is in contrast to the situation with dogs, allowed in the city and on city lands, even though their larger, wet, smelly, offensive waste is often left behind in public parks, on sidewalks, median strips, parkways, other people’s lawns, etc. either because their owners didn’t bother to clean it up or in my experience because they intentionally toss their baggies inside my fenced yard.
Furthermore, the properly managed practice of deep-bed composting of the manure in situ benefits the goats in other ways, such as maintaining warmth in cooler weather.
Nigerian Dwarf goats are relatively quiet animals; they are certainly quiet at night, and during the day they usually only bray (which is a totally non-offensive sound) if they wish to say hello in the morning (they are social animals) or if they wish for more alfalfa. As noted above, they also announce to us welcome or unwelcome visitors on the porch. Again, this is in contrast to dogs, allowed in the city and on city lands, even though they are often loud, perhaps barking all day long because they are left at home alone or for whatever reason.
Nigerian Dwarf goats are gentle, social animals. They are like the most friendly and docile of dogs. They do not bite; they are herbivores so their teeth are not dangerous anyway. Yet pit bulls, Doberman pincers, and even wolf hybrids are permitted to protect their owners’ homes and to be walked on our public streets and in our public parks.
Female goats and neutered males (called wethers) do not stink, unlike intact males.
It makes no sense and seems to be arbitrarily unfair to impose the same restrictions on having goats (or sheep or other similar small domestic livestock) as those for having cows and their accompanying cowpies. It makes more sense to treat them more like dogs, except that the owner can choose to keep them as either a pet or as a food animal.
The Long Beach Municipal Code also sets a boundary restricting goats from South of Anaheim and east of the Los Angeles River flood control channel.
The problem with this code is that this boundary is arbitrary; there is no significant difference in the lot size on one side of Anaheim or the other.
The Long Beach Municipal Code limits one’s possession to one live goat.
The problem with this code is that anyone who cares about goats knows that they are social animals needing the company of other goats. Any responsible goat dealer won’t even sell you just one goat for this exact reason. Furthermore, a lonely goat is more likely to vocalize in complaint than two or more goats that keep each other company. Note that San Francisco Municipal Code Article 1: Animals Section 27 specifies that two female goats ARE allowed for the exclusive use of their owner.
The Long Beach Municipal Code permits 20 non-crowing fowl per city lot. Or does it? The setback restrictions essentially take this right away. Ask the code enforcers, and they’ll tell you that you can only have one, or maybe three if they want to be “nice.” We had only 7, but were forced down to three (for 3 people). The birds lay at most one egg per bird per day. Will this feed a family?
In the 8.5 years that I have lived in Long Beach, the city has done nothing about the drug-dealing addicts that have lived next door to me, well known to the city police, three houses away from the home of city councilwoman for District 2 Suja Lowenthal. Yet I have two goats for less than five months, and Animal Control is threatening to sick the police on me and to take my animals away. This is shameful! We are moving our goats in an attempt to comply, regardless of how unfair this is and how arbitrary the Long Beach Municipal code seems to be. It seems that drug dealers have greater protections than urban farmers growing food for their personal consumption and for the safe wholesome education and entertainment of their family and friends.
Yours sincerely,
Donna Marykwas
P.S. For the record, the drug-dealing neighbors are now gone, not because the city had anything to do with it.
