A backyard farming advocate believes municipalities need to loosen restrictions preventing some residents from growing – and raising – their own food.

Steve McBride, whose Backyard Farming and Homesteading Facebook page has tens of thousands of followers, says the provincial government has set a goal of increasing food production, yet ordinary citizens are limited in what they can do.

He says people who wish to raise a few backyard chickens or goats or grow their own crops are running into barriers on the municipal level, which contradicts the direction in which the provincial government is heading.

He’s surprised that larger municipalities, such as St. John’s and Vancouver, have lesser restrictions on backyard farming than smaller local governments.