Artisan Chicken Policy brings local poultry to the table: new chicken farmers of Ontario policy allows more flexibility for chicken production and will open up the market for small producers.

• Author: Myers, Ella
• Position: Sudbury

Ontario foodies and locavores can look forward to more options when it comes to barbecuing as a new policy ensures they'll have better access to local chicken.

A new Artisanal Chicken Policy introduced by the Chicken Farmers of Ontario (CFO) will allow small-scale chicken farmers to produce between 600 and 3,000 chickens per year, and sell them at local food stores, farmers markets and to restaurants.

"This new program will help farmers build local food and seasonal markets, and give Ontario consumers more choice and options where they source locally grown chicken," said Gwen Zellen, vice-president of quality, technical affairs and sustainability for the CFO. "It's intended to support the growth of the local chicken industry, increase job opportunities across the province, and meet the changing needs of Ontario chicken consumers and market."

Zellen said more than 100 people applied, with 20 per cent coming from Northern Ontario. The policy is uniquely important to Northern Ontario farmers who have a demand for chicken that far exceeds the current supply.

Peggy Gene Baillie, director of Eat Local Sudbury, said the policy is a step forward for food security. She said regional farmers provide less than one per cent of chicken consumed here.

"It will help us fulfill our mandate to provide local food," said Baillie. Eat Local Sudbury would be able to sell chickens raised under the policy, and Baillie knows of at least four local producers who have applied. Currently, Eat Local purchases its chicken from a southern Ontario producer that holds a quota.

Small-scale farmers have been limited by the chicken quota for years. It mandates that farmers producing chicken on a commercial scale for off-site sales have to produce at least 14,000 units of chicken, which equals about 90,000 chickens annually.

While farmers across Ontario can currently produce up to 300 chickens for sale, restrictions mean they cannot advertise these chickens, or sell them off site.

Eat Local Sudbury helped advertise a 2012 campaign to raise the quota from 300 to 2,000. The Artisanal Chicken Policy accomplishes what the campaign asked for. Through it, a farmer...