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League of Urban Canners submitting comments re: #192922, the Urban Agriculture Ordinance.
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Public Comment re: City of Somerville Urban Agriculture Ordinance
The League of Urban Canners would like to offer our support to the pending urban agricultural ordinance. We offer our gratitude to backyard chickens and bees, for creating food, fertilizer, and pollinating our urban landscape; to the many households and community organizations who have increased our access to fresh food, and awareness of nutrition, health and ecology; and to the many backyard food businesses who promise to grow our local economy in ways that benefit both people and environment.
We believe it is possible to consume and preserve more of the fruits and vegetables that grow in our backyards and on our city streets. We are a group of neighbors and friends who partner with property owners, renters, civic organizations, and schools to harvest backyard fruit before it falls, makes a mess on public lawns and streets, attracts pests, and goes to waste. We can the fruit into jams and sauce making delicious locally grown Somerville fruit available year-round.
We hope that in the future the city of Somerville will support urban agriculture through planting more fruit trees in public spaces, providing care and maintenance for existing fruit trees, and installing community kitchens where neighbors can gather to process and preserve their bountiful harvests in a safe way. We are also pleased to hear of collaborations with the health department, and we hope this alliance will enable backyard growers and harvesters to distribute the food they produce and preserve as they see fit through barter, gift, and sale.
During the public hearing one of the board members raised concerns about rats. We should not let rats deter us from growing more of our own food, planting more fruit trees, growing community, and living and eating well in Somerville. We believe that individuals, homeowners, and organizations like ours can intervene by harvesting fruit and preserving it before it falls to the rats.
Thank you for introducing this important and exciting ordinance. We believe it will contribute greatly to the economy, ecology, and quality of life in Somerville.
Sincerely,
Oona Morrow, on behalf of the League of Urban Canners
44 Prescott St.
Somerville, MA