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Iowa City is once again looking at allowing chickens to be raised in city limits. But Iowa City doesn’t have the monopoly on the desire for fresh eggs. In fact, as a whole, Iowans have been supporting local grown food in bigger numbers. Farmers’ Market Master Bob Shepard says in 2004, Iowa had only 80 farmer’s markets. Now there are over 200. He says people have grown to appreciate the taste of fresh foods, but more than that, farmers’ markets thrive because they are a social gathering place. They give consumers the chance to meet the people who produce their food. As far as raising chickens in town, Shepard says the council has considered it, but there have been problems in the past.

That doesn’t mean it won’t happen in the future, but the council will need to look at models from other towns to eliminate those problems. Even without raising chickens, the residents of Washington may get a chance to produce their own fresh food in the future.

Shepard tells us they have been considering a community garden, which would give people a small plot of land in the garden to grow their own food.

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