Last Friday I had the pleasure of seeing Joel Salatin, a self-described
"Christian- libertarian- environmentalist-capitalist- lunatic farmer" speak at Carelton College on his vision of the future. Salatin, the "grass farmer" of Polyface Inc. who was featured in Michael Pollan's book the Omnivore's Dilemma, as well as the documentaries Food Inc and Fresh, left his audience if not with an earnest desire to get their hands dirty- with hope for the future of food. (Something that can seem particularly hard to come by these days.)
Let me preface my recounting and take on his lecture by saying this: I have never grown anything in my life. (Unless you count those little flower seeds that I planted in a miniature pot in second grade for my mama on mothers day) The closest I've come to growing food was whimsically deciding that I was going to help my friend plant garlic one afternoon. My involvement in this largely consisted of watching him rake the bed and dig little holes while I held the garlic cloves we were to plant. I say this because while I have for years been interested in food, eating good food, and America's food culture of today, this interest has never quite made the leap from reading the likes of Pollan and Schlosser to actually getting my hands dirty and partaking in a more visceral aspect of life. While I love to eat well, I often balk at the prices in my local co-op. I often still buy organic, but admittedly it's not without a tinge of resent. I don't take pleasure in spending $5 on a carton of eggs, and I certainly don't enjoy the idea that by buying these $5 eggs, I am a unwittingly part of an elitist movement, but I do enjoy how much brighter the yolks are, and harder the shells are, and I take immense pleasure in their taste- simply put, it's better. Much much better. My aim in writing this preface is not to glorify $5 co-op eggs, but rather it's to say that I am not an environmentalist lunatic farmer. Not even an environmentalist lunatic gardner. I don't know much of anything about growing food, and I don't want to write about Salatin's lecture as though I do. Am I interested in eating whole, healthy foods? Yes. Am I interested in paying to eat whole, healthy, foods? Not so much. Do I still love eating an Almond Joy (hydrogenated oil and all)? Absolutely. Am I interested in getting my hands dirty in order to eat whole healthy foods? Maybe.
Salatin opened his lecture, "Folk's this ain't Normal", highlighting the abnormal times that we live in, referring to our food culture as that of a guinea pig culture, largely due to the enormous lack of participation in farming and growing food. According to Salatin, there are twice as many people incarcerated in our country as there are growing our food. Stop. Think about that for a moment. What does that say about us and about what we value? As humans, we have come to think of ourselves as being above the environment. We don't want to think of ourselves as interconnected and dependent upon the natural world- we aren't
animals after all, we're
humans. And as humans, we have in many ways tried to eliminate our deep-seated, instinctual behaviors that might remind us that homo sapien sapiens evolved with the rest of the natural world and are in fact animals.
Without a doubt, there is a vision of the future that entails breakfast in a pill, lunch in a pill, and (surprise surprise) dinner in a pill as well. A future so technologically advanced, that the need for farmers is non-existent. Salatin referred to it as "push button farming" the concept being that the work of farmers won't be to go out and work in the fields, but rather that they sit behind control panels pushing buttons, twisting dials, and pulling down levers until- viola! food! Needless to say, Salatin doesn't share this vision, and doesn't put much stock in it either. The reality is the petroleum based mechanization of farming can not last. Ultimately, more people must get involved in food and farming- must get away from the disconnect- and get dirty.
Salatin outlined a number of points as being crucial to a "normal" future, several of which I am going to recap as I found them particularly interesting- largely because they are incredibly basic, in some ways common sense, and yet they are missing from our present food culture. The first being that
we are made up of bacteria- we are part of the interconnected world, and as such we have to get involved in it. A more normal future means more people growing their own food and food for their neighbors, and recognizing the importance of the community that exists in the soil- the invisible organisms that make up the foundation upon which are civilization is dependent. It also means we need
greater freedom of food choice. The FDA has largely annihilated this, and apparently done so in our own interest no less. (As Salatin said, "F-da US-da"...I was impressed. I thought it was pretty clever.) On what level does it make sense that if an elementary school classroom learning about food and gardening plants and grows carrots, when the children pick those carrots, if they bring them inside to wash and eat for a snack- are breaking the law? Washing the carrots is considered food processing, for which you need a license. The number of laws regulating food commerce is equally restrictive in preventing people from being able to grow and distribute food, resulting in city food deserts. We have shelves upon shelves of "reconfigured corn and soybean posing as choice" but this is not food choice.
Another point of Salatin's lecture that I found interesting, and I had read it before, but it's easy to ignore in the face of those $5 eggs, is that American's
must spend a greater percentage of their income on food. The percentage of income that we spend on food is one of the lowest in the world. (Income as measured in the form of money, time, and resources) The average American spends 9% of their income on food, and 18% on healthcare. 35 years ago, the average American spent 18% of their income on food and 9% on healthcare. Think there might be a correlation between the two? In short, we cannot have a better food system without it becoming more valued. We value our manicured lawns more than the food that we put into our bodies. According to Salatin, there are 71 million acres of lawn and horse pasture in the US. This is enough green space to feed the entire country without a single farm or ranch. The money that's needed to change our food culture is already in the system, we just need to reexamine the way it's spent and redistribute it.
The last point that I want to bring up from Salatin's lecture is
Carbon cycling- it happens on site in nature, everything is eating and being eaten. The direction that he went with this was I thought, a bit unexpected, and depending on your diet perhaps a bit offensive, but overall I found it incredibly interesting. Salatin essentially railed against vegetarian and veganism, saying that
"the notion that we can live without death strikes at the root of what it is to be alive." When we think that we can live without death, we reduce the sacrifice that is made to sustain life. I find this an insightful, albeit an unusual, take on vegetarian and vegan diets.
Salatin discussed a number of other points in regard to a more normal future, including a food system based on perennials rather than annuals, diversified farms rather then the monoculture that dominates todays farms, water and hydraulic management, and seasonality. His lecture was equal parts informative and entertaining (He loves CSA's in part because he loves anything that reminds him of the Confederate States of America) and at all times riveting.
After walking out, my sister and I decided that chickens were a necessity (she's already named them Lulu, Alice, Henrietta, and Philimena) and my family has been researching and discussing the best place in our yard for the coop. Is it growing my own food and gardening? No, but it's a start. And hey, now I won't have to pay $5 for tasty eggs.
If you're interested in learning more about Joel Salatin, click
here.
