Pince, a tiny town in north-western France, was the first to implement this scheme in 2012.
After its success, Belgian towns, including Mouscron, Antwerp, and Limburg, also followed.
In Limburg alone, 2,500 families adopted hens in a year.
Why chickens? Food waste decaying in landfills pumps out emissions 80 times higher than CO₂ over 20 years.
Globally, 1.3 billion tonnes of food—roughly one-third of what is grown—are wasted each year, accounting for 8-10% of greenhouse gas emissions.