When I saw this on Delicious Obsessions I really just had to share this. This short 6 minute video, is an interview with Joel Salatin’s, owner of Polyface Farms, on his new book, Folks, This Ain’t Normal. It looks at the current state of our access to food and the restrictions placed on farmers and consumers.
I wish I had heard about it sooner. I’m interested in hearing your thoughts.
So few of us are aware of how little freedom we have when it comes to purchasing healthy food for ourselves and our families. Most of us buy our food from the grocery store. Grocery store shelves sure look a lot different than they did even 70 years ago. Now, a good majority of our food is processed, canned, boxed or prepackaged. Is all prepackaged food bad? Of course not, but a large % is.
When most of the food has been altered in some way -- removing, adding, pasteurizing, drying, coating -- the question can no longer be “is this food good for us?” (most of us are becoming aware that the nutrient levels in our food are far less than they should be, no matter what those sparkly, shiny labels tell you! Just look at low fat yogurt, full of chemical sugar substitutes with healthy living labels on them!). A better question is, “where can I get food that is good for me and my family?” It’s when we start asking ourselves this question that we start to realize, not only are our grocery store shelves filled with food that is subpar, but government policy has eliminated so many of the other options that really should be available to us.
The Farm-To-Consumer Legal Defense Fund was created to protect the rights of farmers and consumers to engage in direct commerce between one another. I highly recommend checking out and supporting their organization because we should have the right to go to our local farms and buy directly from them.
I have to say that I was not aware of these legal limitations until fairly recently. I thank all the Real Food Blogs and Politically Incorrect Food Blogs out there, that have brought it to my attention. I plan to continue to spread that awareness. I ask that you do the same. It only takes a minute to share on Facebook or Twitter. Books like Joel’s help make change happen.
Here’s a great, recent example of what Joel is talking about. It’s a short video that you can watch in under 7 minutes, so I hope you’ll take the time. The incident at Laura Bledsoe’s Farm. Warning, it’s not pretty.
So, do you agree or disagree with Joel?
I’m sharing this with Real Food 101, Mangia Mondays, Monday Mania, and My Meatless Monday’s.
