Who says Toronto city council never gets anything done? After mulling the idea for oh, a decade or so, councillors are on the verge of giving the go-ahead to allowing people in a few neighborhoods to keep chickens in their backyard.

The Star, never one to shrink from a controversial issue, has been firmly pro-chicken for years. Keeping a few hens can be a great way to get in touch with local food production. Plus, there’s eggs.

The latest proposal, championed by Ward 5 councillor Justin Di Ciano, is for a pilot project that would allow people in four wards (including his own Etobicoke-Lakeshore district) to keep up to five chickens in their backyard if they have a “suitable space” for them.

Di Ciano points out that lots of other cities – including Vancouver, Montreal, New York and even Brampton – allow residents to keep a few hens. It’s all part of the movement toward urban farming – connecting cosseted urbanites with where their food actually comes from.

Of course, the idea has quite a few people in a flap. They worry about the noise and, especially, the smell from a crowded coop. And certainly that’s a risk if owners aren’t responsible and don’t clean up properly.

But city council should focus on the upside and support the pilot project when it comes up for a vote, probably in the fall.

Hens raised in your own backyard will produce a steady stream of fresh, organic eggs for the cost of (literally) chicken feed. It can be a healthy source of food that has the added benefit of educating kids about farming and the environment.

Toronto already has a small but active underground urban chicken movement (check out the website torontochickens.com). It’s high time for the city to bring it out of the shadows.