‘Lunatic Farmer’ Joel Salatin: ‘You Cannot Have Freedom Without Participation’

Through a series of serendipitous events, America’s most famous farmer Joel Salatin spoke at Hillsdale College for a “Parallel Economies” Conference that was just posted online for free

After a 45-hour trip from South Africa to small-town Michigan, Joel didn’t miss a moment to engage with the hundreds of attendees. Joel gave a lecture to the packed auditorium after Q&A and multiple interviews. “Local Food as Parallel Agriculture.” His visit ended with a book signing, which he did for many of his fans, both old and new. He displayed no sign of jet lag and was cheerful and kind throughout.

Americans are desperate to find alternatives or parallel systems in finance, business, media and food because the woke ideology has so corrupted public discourse. If left unchecked, wokeism can become a widespread phenomenon. every crevice Our lives can control our thoughts and behavior. Joel’s words of wisdom are therefore particularly resonant, and only growing in interest as Americans seek to frame their lives in more resilient and self-reliant ways.

It was then that I discovered the self-described “lunatic farmer” In spring 2020. There were few bright spots in what we euphemistically call “spring 2020”. “The Shutdown.” Joel Salatin was one of my favorites.

We had started to watch homesteading channels on YouTube together. I was watching my husband, and then one night, a lady mentioned a name so tenderly that I had to go back and hear it again. She claimed that Salatin was on. Joe Rogan’s podcast. His tone of affection caused me to examine him.

I learned of a man, a farmer in the truest sense of the word, who had a compelling story to tell about soil, about the real meaning of environmentalism and stewardship of the land, and about the animals who are allowed and encouraged under Joel’s watchful eye to be what God intended them to be. He described some of the life-giving, self-sustaining practices that make all the hard work worthwhile.

He also shared the heartbreaking story of his family fleeing Venezuela at the age of 4 to return to the United States in 1962. They settled in the Shenandoah valley. It was so badly eroded that it took three generations of Salatin farmers for the land to be brought back to life.

I was hooked. I became even more interested in his books and decided to purchase them. “Folks, This Ain’t Normal” — if ever there were a befitting title for the times in which we live! — and “Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal,” It is also appropriate. I subscribed his Lunatic Farmer blog, where he spotlights issues such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s harassment of Amish farmer Amos Miller, “vicious vegans,” virtual reality goggles For cows.

It’s not just farmers or homesteaders who care about these topics and could be in the crosshairs of our own government. The USDA announced in September that they would expand their uber-creepy surveillance program. People’s Garden Initiative, launched originally in 2009.