Being a Lunatic Farmer

Sheer Ecstasy of Being a Lunatic Farmer

BOOK REVIEW by Maureen Lefebvre

I LOVED this book. In another life I would be a lunatic farmer too – one who respects the land, respects animals and handles both with knowledge and the understanding that we cannot abuse the system and expect to get away with it forever. In conversation-like fashion Joel Salatin tells of his family business raising cows, chickens, and eggs on a sustainable farm in Virginia. Joel travels widely helping to make people aware that it is possible to feed our country without resorting to chemicals, feedlots and monocrops, mega-acre farms. In this book he includes his philosophy, research and resources as well as practical how-tos. Each chapter concludes with takeaway points. For example, chapter one is titled “Growing Soil”. The takeaway points were:

  1. Herbivores and perennials are the most efficacious way to build soil.
  2. Tillage and annuals account for the lion’s share of erosion.
  3. Depleted soil can be rebuilt and regenerated.
  4. Carbon is the key to soil health.

You don’t have to be a regular farmer to appropriate the wisdom in this book. Taking it to heart will help you better care for any size urban yard you have and give you an appreciation of the process behind organic farming and encourage you to support local suppliers of this type of produce and meat.

2009 Goals for the Weston A. Price Kamloops Chapter

  1. Maintain the most up-to-date listing of local foods available from organic, natural and conventional farms.
  2. Build a community of people interested in healthy, local food.
  3. Form a Buyer’s Group.
  4. Develop educational materials to help interested people achieve more independence from the industrial food system.
  5. Organize potluck dinners and discussions about local food issues.
  6. Support local ranchers and farmers through direct purchases or buyer’s groups.
  7. Mobilize our community to change laws that limit a citizen’s ability to produce or sell products on their own property.

Vision of an Urban Homestead

pork-salad

Join me on a journey to find quality local food to fill the plates of my family and friends.

I see a city where in every neighbourhood there is at least one person committed to knowing everything that is produced in the local area. That person would also be committed to teaching others how to produce a garden suitable for the local conditions and how to introduce animals and fowl into the urban landscapte safely and without conflict.

Groups of people would join together to change local bylaws to bring local, unsprayed food and free-range animals back into our individual control. This means overturning laws that criminalize people for producing food, trading or selling to neighbours.

Groups of neighbours would exchange the bounty of their yards with other neighbours. This community of interested people will be committed to safe, nutritious? and local food. There are some foods that cannot be produced in the city and the community would support the local ranchers and farmers.

There will be members of the community that would not be interested or able to grow a garden or raise livestock. These ranchers and farmers will produce their food. The food the city person buys will keep the farmers and ranchers in business, along with keeping their knowledge alive for another generation.

I would like to see this structure spread from neighbourhood to neighbourhood, city to city and across the country.