Support Chickens & Goats: Meet with your Neighborhood Organization!

If you've been following Sustainable Food Denver on Facebook, you know that we have plans to start drafting a new Food-Producing Animals (FPA) in July. Denver's current FPA ordinance has many problems, and it is difficult for those who want to produce healthy, sustainable food for their families to do so without a hassle. We want to propose something that would make it easier to raise hen chickens and dwarf goats in the city, while following current laws regarding animal noise, odor, and nuisance.

The opportunity to work with Zoning to craft a new ordinance is great news, but it is critical that we get the City Councilmembers on board (otherwise, even a wonderfully written ordinance will fail). Many Councilmembers have said that community/constituent support is key to them, and the Registered Neighborhood Organizations (RNOs) are the driving force in most communities.

We need people to volunteer to meet with their RNOs and talk about the keeping of FPAs in the city. There are just so many RNOs, and there's no way that I could cover all of them myself. Plus, the RNOs are more likely to listen to their own residents (instead of an outsider).

You don't need to be an expert -- or even know anything about FPAs in the city -- to volunteer. If you're willing to help, here's what you need to do:

1. You need to attend a 1-hour training meeting. We'll give you everything you need to know in order to talk to your RNO, including talking points, answers to FAQs, photos, etc. Send an email to sustainablefooddenver[at]gmail.com and let me know which of these training times you can attend:

Friday, June 25th at 9:00am
Saturday, June 26th at 3:00pm
Tuesday, June 29th at 6:00pm

(All trainings will be held in NW Denver. You'll receive the address when you register for a training.)

2.  When you come to the training, let me know which RNO oversees your neighborhood. If you don't know, you can go here to enter your address and look it up.

3.  After the training, you (plus anyone else who's signed up from your neighborhood) will contact your RNO and make plans to present at their next meeting.

Please send me an email if you're able to help. Hopefully, through the efforts of all the Sustainable Food Denver supporters, we'll be able to build community support and educate people on the appropriateness of raising FPAs in the city!