I was appalled to read the editorial regarding Jill Richardson's attempt to introduce chickens into her neighborhood ("Home, home on the ranch," Dec. 19). The attitude of the editor is just an example of what is wrong with this country. We want to be able to purchase free-range, pastured, cage-free eggs from the local grocer, but, "Oh, please, don't even think about letting your neighbor infringe on your lifestyle." If my grandmother were still alive, Nan Couts (Nan Couts Cottage at La Mesa Rec Center), she would be ashamed of the way La Mesa had digressed.
LYNNE COUTS VAN DYKE
Warner Springs
I find your editorial "Home, home on the ranch" to be quite off-base. Small flocks of backyard chickens are permitted in New York City. Other U.S. cities such as Madison, Wis., and Portland, Ore., permit chickens, and more are changing their laws to allow them each year. Typically roosters are not allowed due to the noise, and I explicitly requested hens only to be permitted in La Mesa. Chickens are a natural complement to any garden as they provide valuable fertilizer and pest control and they convert waste products like weeds, bugs, and kitchen scraps into eggs that are more nutritious than the store-bought kind.
JILL RICHARDSON
La Mesa
(Richardson is author of "Recipe for America: Why Our Food System is Broken and What We Can Do To Fix It.")
Backyard chicken coops are gaining popularity as part of a sustainable lifestyle, and are worthy of serious consideration.
RACHEL ROTT
Vista
I live in Clairemont and have four chickens that my children love and my neighbors never notice (except when they say "thanks for the eggs"). Chickens (1) are no more unsanitary than other pets, (2) are no more guilty of breaking the peace than are dogs, cats and children, and (3) do not require roosters to lay eggs. Children should not have to drive to the "open country" to have some connection to their own food supply.
MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ
San Diego
As a member of Backyardchickens.com, I must respond. A few hens are much quieter than the pack of mini-mutts my neighbor has. Hens can be confined to a covered pen so no other animals can get to them. They are easily cleaned up after. There is no valid reason for a city to not allow residents to have a few hens.
BARBARA ANDERSON
Riverside County
There's more to Jill Richardson's chickens than "a few pets or exceptionally fresh eggs."
Richardson is part of a movement of San Diegans who are trying to solve some serious problems with our food system.
We use too much energy, treat our animals terribly, grow our produce in chemicals instead of soil, and suffer outbreaks of food-borne diseases. We've got solutions to these problems in local farms, farmers markets, community gardens, and backyard chickens, and yet the city fights us all the way.
There are valid concerns about sanitation and noise, as there are for dogs and parties, and we should have ordinances for those specific problems. Let's not throw the chickens out with the bath water.
ERIK PUKINSKIS
North Park
A goose egg is what you get for your editorial. We applaud Richardson's efforts to loosen La Mesa's unnecessarily restrictive backyard chicken ordinances.
Madison, Wis., Portland, Ore., and even New York City are now chicken-friendly. Why not here? Imperial Beach is considering lifting its ban and others will soon follow. Proponents need our encouragement, not derision.
JOHN VAWTER and RILEY DAVENPORT
Publishers, Edible San Diego
I didn't know The Grinch works at the Union-Tribune. The writer seems to have been in a foul mood (no pun intended) and a La Mesa resident took the brunt of it. The editorial was flawed in content and mean in spirit.
JACKIE STAHL
La Mesa
