Good one.
It is ironic with so many people out of work and struggling that so municipalities do not allow people to keep chickens. You can do so many things with eggs and they are a good source of protein. Although my maternal grandfather was a pharmacist, during the Depression, he often got paid in goods--rag rugs, chickens, a cut of beef, milk, butter, and cream. This was northern MN. They hunted partridge, etc., not because they enjoyed hunting, but because it was a source of food for the table. My grandmother had a huge vegetable garden. My mother told the story of how she and her older brother were sent to get some groceries. They had a $10 bill (which was a lot of money--from which they were to bring home change). Somehow, they lost it in the snow. She remembers eating cabbage and tomato soup for the next two weeks until they had money again--my grandmother made braided rugs and would sell those...they also had FRESH eggs because my grandmother also kept...Rhode Island Red hens. Could I be morphing into my grandmother?