EVERYTHING I WANT TO DO IS ILLEGAL

War stories from the local food front

by JOEL SALATIN

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New large softcover book 388 pages, first published in 2007.

Although Polyface farm has been glowingly featured in countless national print and video media, if the USDA and the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services had their way it would not exist.  From a lifetime of noncompliance, frustration, humor, and passion come the behind-the-scenes real stories that have brought this little family farm into the forefront of the non-industrial food system.
                   
Using the stories as a springboard to the broader philosophical issues surrounding food choice and entrepreneurship, Joel Salatin comes across as both evangelist and lover. You may not agree with all of his conclusions, but this book will force you to think about things that most people didn't even know existed.

When asked recently where he thought America's food system was on a continuum of history, Joel responded: 'We're at Wounded Knee.  For all the foodie fluff and eco-local buzz, in the final analysis the imbedded, heritage, transparent, truthful food system is in danger of annihilation. The Seventh Cavalry wears blue pinstriped suits and sits in posh government office buildings. The Native Americans are farmers trying to heal their land, their neighbors, and their food.'

About the author

Joel F. Salatin (born 1957) is an American farmer, lecturer, and author. He raises livestock using holistic methods of animal husbandry, free of potentially harmful chemicals, on his Polyface Farm in Swoope, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley. Meat from the farm is sold by direct-marketing to consumers and restaurants.

After graduating from college, Salatin married his childhood sweetheart in 1980 and became a feature writer at the Staunton, Virginia newspaper. He then decided to try farming full-time. His grandfather had been an avid gardener, beekeeper and a follower of J. I. Rodale, the founder of regenerative organic gardening. His parents had bought the land that became Polyface after losing a farm in Venezuela to political turmoil. They had raised cattle using organic methods, but could not make a living at farming alone.His father worked as an accountant and his mother taught high school physical education.

Salatin describes himself as a "Christian-libertarian-environmentalist-capitalist farmer". He produces high-quality "beyond organic" meats, which are raised using environmentally responsible, ecologically beneficial, sustainable methods. His philosophy of farming emphasizes healthy grass on which animals can thrive in a symbiotic cycle of chemical-free feeding. Cows are moved from one pasture to another rather than being centrally corn fed. Then chickens in portable coops are moved in behind them, where they dig through the cow dung to eat protein-rich fly larvae while further fertilizing the field with their droppings.

Joel is the author of 6 books including Family Friendly Farming, You Can Farm and Everything I Want to Do is Illegal. He spends a hundred days a year lecturing at colleges and to environmental groups. He is visiting Australia in late May 2010

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Everything I Want to Do is Illegal: War stories from the local food front by Joel Salatin