The Red, White, and Green

My friend is up for one of the coveted internships at Polyface Farm, that near-utopian model of sustainable agriculture of The Omnivore’s Dilemma fame. He just returned from his interview at the farm in Virginia’s verdant Shenandoah Valley (he finds out about the internship in January — fingers crossed!), and forwarded me a couple photos from the hoop houses that are home to the chickens and rabbits in the wintertime.

He writes:

Here is a picture of one of the hoop houses with chickens and rabbits stacked together. The rabbit droppings fall through the floor and the chickens love to scratch through them so they are composted into the soil. Also, since their urine goes through the cage and into the soil it is not strongly ammonia and burning the rabbits’ lungs. Did you know industrially raised rabbits are the most heavily medicated of all CAFO animals?

Here’s a zoomed-in look at this closed-loop hoop house in action:

I was surprised to hear that about rabbits, since I didn’t even know there was a market for rabbit meat large enough to justify industrial production. I thought it could possibly be for their fur, since mukluks will be hot as long as Kate Moss is sporting one of her many pairs, but my friend informed me that there was, indeed, a year-long wait list at Polyface for rabbit meat before the farm stopped bothering with the list altogether. 

Could sustainably raised bunnies, cute as that sounds, be an abundant source of organic meat for the world? Think about it — they’re relatively easy to care for, are pretty darn tasty (I’ve been told), and reproduce like, well, rabbits. 

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: In the spirit of Polyface Farm, find your local meat producers and patronize them. Click here to read how.

Related posts:
WATCH: Backyard chickens in Los Angeles
Portland’s Urban Farm Store: One-stop shopping for backyard chickens

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