The Golden Gate Bridge at Sunset – by Jen Pitino
San Francisco is, hands down, one of the loveliest, most interesting, charming large cities in the United States. It is world renowned for its playfully pastel painted row homes and cable cars that climb the incredibly steep peaks of this hilly metropolis and provide such beautiful vistas of the bay and city.
San Francisco Pet Chicken Meetup – photo by Shaun Yang
With close to a million residents, urban chickens and farming is not necessarily what immediately comes to mind when you think of this city. However, San Francisco is arguably the birthplace of the “localvore” slow food movement in America. World famous chef, Alice Waters has been promoting the idea of simple, wholesome, organic foods sustainably-sourced from producers close to home, since opening her restaurant Chez Panisse in 1971. Truly, San Francisco is a foodies homeland! There are innumerable little restaurants and cafes producing superior fare made from meats, eggs and vegetables organically grown in and around the bay area.
San Francisco Chickens by Karen Schulkin
The localvore movement started by Alice Waters has been embraced by many of San Francisco’s residents who choose to keep their own backyard hens and take direct control over some of their food sources.
The San Francisco Pet Chicken Meetup group is an on-line club of urban chicken-keepers in the greater bay area. The group boasts over one hundred members and provides information and inspiration to other would-be city chicken owners. On this week’s episode, I talk with Karen Schulkin, the current organizer of the San Francisco Pet Chicken Meetup group, about keeping hens in this large city and the use of Meetup as a medium to bring chicken enthusiasts together in that area.
On this episode, I also discuss breaking chicken news about the latest chicken business: the chicken hotel. Additionally, in Sally’s Sidenotes, we learn about new chicken related terminology and consider if that term fits you.
Show Resources:
- San Francisco Pet Chicken Meetup page LINK
- 39 other Chicken Meetup Groups available throughout the United States! LINK
- The Nest – a chicken hotel in Eugene, Oregon LINK
- More news coverage about The Nest chicken Hotel VIDEO
- NBC news article about The Nest LINK
- Alice Waters and Chez Panisse – birthplace of the localvore movement in U.S. LINK
- Book that Karen Schulkin mentions as having a big impact on her: The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
Sally’s Sidenotes
- Egg Snobbery – link to Beth Kassab article LINK
- Are You An Egg Snob? – backyardchickens.com forum thread LINK
- Egg Snob blog post at The (mis)adventures of a Born Again Farm Girl webpage LINK
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