First Name:
Juliana
Last Name:
Glenn
Major Department:
Sustainable Development
Thesis Director:
Anne Fanatico
Date of Thesis:
May 2013
In the spring of 2012 during my Living Routes semester in Costa Rica, I conducted research on rural families who participate in household chicken production. I used interviews and surveys to determine their chicken production practices and reasons for participating in this production system. I found that many of these people participated in this activity for food security and an increase in household income. Then, back at Appalachian State University, I investigated household chicken production in the US to determine if this production practice would have the same benefits in a developed country. I determined that backyard poultry production has a huge potential to have positive impacts in countries all over the world. It can improve food access and nutrition to food insecure people everywhere and in some cases can contribute to household income. In addition, it can help people become more self-sufficient as well as address many environmental, ethical, and distributary problems with our modern day food system.