Joel Salatin speaking in Seattle

Joel Salatin, of Polyface farms fame spoke in Seattle tonight on two topics; feeding the people using expansive techniques, and the "ecstacy of being a lunatic farmer".  I couldn't make the first part. 

Mr.  Salatins operation is the one that my farming effort gets compared to most often.  He's a famous advocate for small farms to ignore the legal barriers and just go and do things related to farming.  He's one of the reasons that small poultry producers are allowed to slaughter their own birds here in Washington State, for instance. 

Personal note:  I think that here in Washington State,  the animal slaughter situation is entirely caused by regulation, and that the "mobile slaughter" units that we're building for $500k each is a huge waste of time and money.  Allow the regional meat cutting shops to become certified to slaughter and sell meat and help them stay in business.  Don't put a government subsidized trailer out there to remove one of the legs of their revenue stool. 

Salatin point #1:  Respect for animals leads to respect for people.   "Allowing a pig to express pigness allows Mary to express Maryness.  If we don't care for our least, we can't care for our most".   I think that having a real concern for the life and care of animals, even those we eat, is important for us.   Factory farms, at a very basic level, are no fun for anyone.  the farmer, the animal, the customer -- all are lessened. 

Salatin point #2:  "We have designed a food system that seems to be focused on creating and maintaining pathogens".    a) single crop (corn, pigs, chickens, peas, etc) b) crowded c) immune systems compromised by antibiotic use.  I cannot argue with this point.  Salatin says "When you have to wear a plastic suite and dip your feet in sheep dip to visit a farm, you know you're in trouble"

Salatin point #3:  On the USDA:  "No other government agency has been so effective at destroying its constituency as this one", pointing to the dropping number of farmers "More people are in prison than are farmers" and "Why is it assumed that the best and brightest should be off the farm?  We need more careful stewards of the land.  We need that ingenuity in this industry"

Salatin point #4:  "We spend more on pet veterinary care here in the USA than they spend on human health care in all of Africa"

Finally, Salatin used this example: 

"If we were to describe a happy meal [from mcdonalds] as a '1', and a cook-from-scratch meal from a aunt, who grows her own food and makes her own mayonaise and so on as a '10', would you in the audience generally agree that the '1' should be regulated? "  Audience generally agreed. 
  "Ok, how about the 10?", says Salatin.  At this point a shouting match erupted in the audience, and after the scuffle died down, Salatin said "well...  EVERYWHERE ELSE they think that it shouldn't be.  But in Seattle, which is DIFFERENT, you believe that it should be regulated. 

And that really sums up the weirdness that is Western Washington.  We want farms and farmers, but we also want regulation.  We want regulation of every aspect of our lives, apparently.