La Posada’s program to produce our own healthy food—our citrus grove, vegetable garden and pecan tree—is central to teaching our clients and volunteers about healthy eating and environmental sustainability. And now we are proposing a new project to provide La Posada with healthy food: chickens!

A recent study in “Mother Earth News” has reported that pastured chickens produce eggs with four to six times as much vitamin D, two-thirds more vitamin A, a quarter less saturated fat, two times the amount of Omega 3 fatty acids and three times the amount of Vitamin E as eggs sold in commercial supermarkets.

La Posada has recently submitted a grant that will allow us to purchase 12 baby chicks, a feeder and waterer, a baby chicken hutch and heat lamp, chicken feed for one year and organic fertilizer for our lawn so our chickens will have plenty of good pasture to graze. The next step will be to secure funding for a “Mega Mobile Coop” for our chickens. This mobile coop will allow us to move our chickens to fresh pasture every few days, so they can produce pastured eggs for our shelter. To support this vision, La Posada plans to seek alternative funding through online crowdfunding. We will keep you posted on how you can help fund our chicken cause!

La Posada’s chicken project will add a whole new dimension to our environmental sustainability program by:
• Adding healthy, pastured chicken eggs to our menu;
• Giving us chicken manure to improve the quality of our compost; and
• Providing an opportunity for our clients, staff, and volunteers to act together as good stewards of the earth and its creatures.

~Missy Benavidez, Development Coordinator