By Tim Gamble
Between Shadows and Light.
Joel Salatin describes himself on his website, TheLunaticFarmer.com, as "a Christian libertarian environmentalist capitalist lunatic farmer." Does that get your attention? Good.
Who is Joel Salatin?
Joel Salatin is a farmer, author, and lecturer known for sustainable and regenerative agriculture practices at his Polyface Farm in Virginia. He advocates for holistic, eco-friendly farming methods that emphasize soil health, animal welfare, and local food systems. Salatin critiques industrial agriculture, promoting instead a model where farming mimics natural ecological processes, using rotational grazing and integrated livestock systems to enhance biodiversity and land stewardship.
Salatin was offered a position as an Advisor to the Secretary of Agriculture in the Trump administration, but either turned it down outright or later changed his mind after initially accepting it (reports vary). Either way, the fact that he was offered the position is impressive, speaking to the influence of his ideas.
Those ideas include:
- Rejecting Industrialized Farming - damaging to the environment, animal welfare and human health; no factory farming.
- Regenerative Agriculture - mimicking natural ecological systems, leveraging symbiotic relationships, practicing rotational grazing, and promoting soil health and plant regeneration.
- Sustainability and Environmental stewardship - emphasizing soil health and biodiversity for a more balanced ecosystem.
- Animal Welfare - aim is to provide animals with natural, humane living conditions.
- Local Agriculture - selling directly to consumers or through local markets supports local economies and increases regional food security.
Salatin is also the author of a number of books which go into his ideas in greater detail. Those books include 1) You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Start & Succeed in a Farming Enterprise (Amazon link) and 2) Polyface Micro: Success with Livestock on a Homestead Scale (Amazon link).
A video, Local Food as Parallel Agriculture (Youtube link) is available to watch for free. It is a 15-minute speech given at Hillsdale College in 2023 by Joel Salatin. In it, Salatin gives some eye-popping information. Just one example: there are now more prison inmates than farmers in America. Please watch this video. You won't regret it.
You may also be interested in my articles on Biblical Agrarianism:
- Biblical Agrarianism - A Way Forward? (article link)
- Embracing Biblical Agrarianism (article link)
- Biblical Agrarianism - Answering Your Questions (article link)
- Core Principles of Agrarianism (article link)
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