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Folks, This Ain't Normal: A Farmer's Advice For Happier Hens, Healthier People, And A Better World (2011)

by Joel Salatin(Favorite Author)

4.14 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0892968192 (ISBN13: 9780892968190)

languge

English

genre

Food & Cookbooks

publisher

Center Street

review 1: Mr Salatin has developed some excellent methods for sustainable farming, most of which is so scalable, I'm able to make use of his ideas in my own back yard to keep 2 (yes, just two) urban hens happy. An excellent, entertaining read about thinking outside the box. Somebody should probably tell him the installation of rainwater tanks in Australian urban areas only started in the last few years,and is by no means widespread in every city. As recently as 13 years ago, it was difficult even to install rainwater divertors to gutters in urban South Australia because there was no precedent to get building compliance for it. For me, it's little factual exaggerations like the above which cause me to regard Mr Salatin as a somewhat "fringe" personality, even while I find his visi... moreonary, self-tested ideas on farming and living extremely thought provoking and practicable.Still, this is a must for every foodie, veggie grower and "lifestyle" farmer, regardless of whether you practice your passion in your urban backyard, or on a multi-acre farm block.
review 2: Salatin's voice will become a historical reference for the environmental movement because he has vision enough to see through the multiple contradictions in the current movement and because he has the guts to tell it like it is. In a nutshell, his vision is based on vast, personal experience building a truly sustainable farm and he focuses everything on the chickenness of chicken, the hogness of pigs and grassness of grass. The farmness of farms. Everything has a natural expression that that generates harmony and prosperity if allowed to interact properly with all of the surrounding elements on the farm. Salatin's understanding of the nature of the grass - cow relationship, how it is the basis for sustainability, contradicts all current convention wisdom coming from the environmental movement that only focuses on water and land use by cows and their methane emissions. Worshiping wild forests and soil builders and carbon sinks is misguided because they are less utilitarian to all of nature's needs than grass. I also learned a lot from his rants about the how the FDA may have been born from good intentions to clean up the meat packing industry but it evolved into government food regulation, which ironically favored the rise and dominance of large industry. I am not a libertarian, but his perspective is refreshing and clear, and largely a slap in my face for believing the left wing chatter about these topics.An absolutely essential read for all environmentalists, which is everybody. less

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