Conservative Sustainable Farmer?

If you've read Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, then you have definitely heard about Polyface Farms Inc. in Virginia. The Polyface Farm is an ideal example of how to practice sustainable agriculture. The farm's founder, Joel Salatin, rotates his livestock about the pastures to provide constant, natural, and practically free fertilization(minus any supplemental feed and care for cows) optimizing the health and life cycles of both the grass and cattle, not to mention sustaining the health of the soil. For more detail about his farm operations and mission, I point you to their website, http://www.polyfacefarms.com/.

It may come as a surprise to many who have read The Omnivoire's Dilemma, but Joel Salatin is a known libertarian. What? You mean to tell me that a major aspect of a Cal-Berkeley professor's book is a libertarian who supported Ron Paul for president? What? You mean to tell me that The Omnivore's Dilemma, a book espoused by the left as the bible for sustainable agriculture and sustainable, green eating touts the life and work of a man who is certainly right of center politically and wants absolutely no government in his business? How ironic that the majority of Pollan's readers are left of center but Joel Salatin, a role model of sustainable living and sustainable farming practices is the opposite. Is it because the readers who are supposedly left really don't understand the influence that government has on farmers and the current state of the farming that goes on in our country?

Mother Earth News recently published an interview with Joel Salatin and it is worth reading. At the bottom of this post is a link to the interview.

In brief, Salatin has no use for the government in his business. Here's a passage from the interview discussing his biggest problem in farming, "Anyone familiar with me would have to smile at this question, knowing that my answer would be and continues to be the food police. The on-farm hurdles we’ve faced, from drought to predators to flood to cash flow, are nothing compared to the emotional, economic and energy drain caused by government bureaucrats. Even in the early 1970s when, as a young teen, I operated a farm stand at the curb market, precursor of today’s farmers markets, the government said I couldn’t sell milk. The first business plan I came up with to become a full-time farmer centered around milking 10 cows and selling the milk to neighbors at regular retail supermarket prices. It would have been a nice living. But it’s illegal.....I think it’s amazing that in a country which promotes the freedom to own firearms, freedom to worship and freedom of speech, we don’t have the freedom to choose our own food. If I can’t choose the proper fuel to feed my body, I won’t have energy to go shoot, preach and pray anyway."

One of my favorite passages from his interview was his take on vegetarians, "I will answer this in two parts. The first has to do with the people who think a fly is a chicken is a child is a cat — what I call the cult of animal worship. This would include the people who think we’ve evolved beyond the barbaric practice of killing animals to some cosmic nirvana state where killing is a thing of the past. Rather than indicating a new state of evolutionary connectedness, it actually shows a devolutionary state of disconnectedness. A Bambi-ized culture in which the only human-animal connection is a pet soon devolves into jaundiced foolishness. This philosophical and nutritional foray into a supposed brave new world is really a duplicitous experiment into the anti-indigenous. This is why we enjoy having our patrons come out and see the animals slaughtered. Actually, the 7- to 12-year old children have no problem slitting throats while their parents cower inside their Prius listening to 'All Things Considered.' Who is really facing life here? The chickens don’t talk or sign petitions. We honor them in life, which is the only way we earn the right to ask them to feed us — like the mutual respect that occurs between the cape buffalo and the lion. To these people, I don’t argue. This is a religion and I pretty much leave it alone."

Anyways, read the interview by clicking on the link below and you'll understand why the icon of sustainable agriculture, Joel Salatin, is far from being a Democrat. Here's the link; http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/Joel-Salatin-Interview.aspx