Recent changes to Michigan’s 33-year-old Right to Farm Act exclude urban farms from protection.
When Michigan passed the Right to Farm Act back in 1981, it was designed to protect farmers from urban sprawl. As suburban development expanded into rural areas, the new residents—people with “limited understanding of farming,” as a Right to Farm Act FAQ sheet calls them—often found typical farming conditions, including dust, odors, animal noises and such, unacceptable. Sometimes, the interlopers would file nuisance suits against the farmers. Essentially, the law said this is how farming smells, sounds, looks and acts. It has a right to do so.
Over the last several years, the flow has reversed, with farming moving back to town. Increasingly, urban dwellers are raising vegetables, chickens and even goats in their backyards or on small plots of land. Some do so for their own consumption, wanting to reduce their reliance on factory-farmed foods. Some are entrepreneurs, producing small batch products to sell at farmers markets and other outlets. Late last month, the Michigan Commission of Agriculture and Rural Development put their right to do so in doubt.
As the Detroit News reports, “The commission decided protections against nuisance lawsuits and complaints offered by Michigan’s 33-year-old Right to Farm Act won’t apply to farm animal raisers in primarily residential areas. Instead, they’ll be subject to local zoning regulations.”
At the heart of the original act is a set of Generally Accepted Agricultural and Management Practices (GAAMPs). Historically, if farmers followed these voluntary guidelines, they could use the Right to Farm Act as a defense against nuisance lawsuits. In a special commission session on April 28, those GAAMPs were revised to say that any number of farm animals raised in neighborhoods with more than 13 homes within 1/8-mile of the animals, or with a single home within 250 feet, would not be in compliance or protected under the act.
This all feels so ill-timed. Many urban areas are dealing with food deserts. Obesity has been singled out as one of the leading preventable causes of death. Doctors, nutritionists, schools, communities, celebrity chefs and even First Lady Michelle Obama are working to get us to eat better, eat healthier. We need to be doing more to protect urban farming and home gardening efforts, not removing those protections. Small farms (among those small businesses everyone claims to love so much), community gardens, school programs, entrepreneurs and even parents teaching their kids where food comes from could be at risk.
Local zoning laws can be notoriously capricious. And ironically, many people filing nuisance complaints are probably in favor of local foods, shopping the farmers markets and seeking out locavore, farm-to-table restaurants. But NIMBY—”not in my back yard.” That’s too local.
What’s needed is a sense of balance. For most of this country’s history, backyard gardens and chicken coops were part of the urban fabric. They served a purpose then and they do now. We all need to remember this. On the other hand, urban farmers (and ambitious gardeners) need to accept that not all their neighbors share their enthusiasm. Everyone needs to talk and, more important, to listen and work things out. And if states choose to bow out of the discussion, maybe it’s time to look at local zoning laws and ordinances to see if we can make them serve everyone.
Good post. We live in an inner ring suburb that does allow chickens and bees (and maybe more — we haven’t really looked into it). You do have to jump through some hoops to get a permit (talk to your neighbors and get their approval) but it’s doable and relatively painless. We garden, and have thought about chickens, but doubt if we’ll go that route (so easy to buy decent eggs at farmer’s markets, etc; and I really don’t see myself slaughtering chickens for their meat!). But I’m tempted.
Yes this is a good post. One of those ‘where do you draw the line’ issues.
We are in an old village with decent space between homes and one of my close neighbours has chickens. We love the chattering and clucking we hear and we do not notice any odour but they are not supposed to have them. I’ll never tell. I can understand a bylaw being enforced in a tighter subdivision where it’s a little too close and practically in your yard but who decides and how do you determine what’s close? We’ve seen people move next to existing small hobby farms and then complain about it and want them moved. Toronto has a large, long existing pig abattoir pretty much close up recently, its fate unclear at the moment. Subdivision/apartments were built practically next door and complaints were made about noise and odour. People need to due their due diligence when moving and find out what will be around them but I guess this is ‘progress’. Small urban farming really is a tough call.
a small side note: Many places now don’t allow you to hang laundry outside. So much for energy conservation.
Thanks, John. Regarding buying decent eggs at farmers markets (and chicken meat too), even people who raise their own chickens admit that buying organic eggs and chicken is cheaper than raising your own. And honestly, raising chickens for whatever purpose sounds like a lot of work. But more power to those who choose to do so.
Randi, you capture both sides of the argument very well. And the abattoir sounds like a factory farming facility—will be interested to hear what becomes of it. You’re absolutely right about doing your due diligence before moving into any community. I love people who move near airports and then complain about the noise. Oh, and the not hanging laundry thing? That is just plain ridiculous.
Oh, finally we in Altadena have something to crow about. We are zoned for chickens and other livestock. The particulars of the zoning requirements have scared me off, but many others around town are brave.
As for eggs from a farmer’s market — yes, they’re better than what you’ll find at a Safeway. But nothing beats the taste of an egg a chicken-raising neighbor hands you over a backyard fence.
“Something to crow about.” I see what you did there. Even the farmers market eggs are awesome to us, the yolks a rich orange and the shells so sturdy because all the calcium hasn’t been stressed out of the laying hens. We also find that organic eggs from the supermarket show these same signs of chickens being raised humanely and their eggs being better for it. But yes, an egg from a chicken-raising neighbor has to be as good as it gets, I think.
The last of my hens died just before Indiana arrived in our household, but the eggs just out of the chicken were amazing. Now, I have to “settle” for trading for eggs with people in my ‘hood. I’m sorry Michigan made a poor decision here; hopefully the chicken lobby will be strong enough to overturn it. Chicken folks tend to be plucky cluckers.
Christina, Facebook has totally trained me to look for the “Like” button. “Plucky cluckers” indeed!