Richardcyoung.com

Joel Salatin Can Help Americans Beat Food Inflation

By

By David Louis Econopouly @ Shutterstock.com

UPDATE 8.1.24: Joel Salatin talks about making the step to farming full-time. Watch:


UPDATE 12.5.23: Despite the rapid food inflation of the last few years, Americans are still looking for healthier alternatives to factory-farmed food. Kelly Beaton reports at The Food Institute:

Though the cost of many grocery items – like beef and poultry – continues to rise, organic items aren’t taking a hit. In fact, sales of organic food surpassed $60 billion last year, due in no small part to the post-pandemic emphasis on health and well-being.

The latest research from CivicScience suggests that buying organic isn’t going away any time soon. The firm’s data tracking shows the quarterly percentage of American adults who say they purchase organic food regularly (or, “every chance I get,”) is up two percentage points since the first quarter of 2021, reaching 12%.

Additionally, the number of consumers who shop organic “when it’s convenient” has risen two percentage points to reach 21%.

“People are increasingly mindful of what they eat, seeking healthier options, and organic food aligns well with this lifestyle,” Erik Pham, CEO of HealthCanal, told The Food Institute.

CivicScience found that consumers making $100,000 or less per year are leading the rise in organic food purchases. Consider: 7% more adults who make $50,000 – $100,000 are buying organic food now than they were two years ago.

“A growing number of people … favor foods free of artificial hormones, antibiotics, and pesticides. They feel that organic food is more pure and has higher nutritional value,” Gabrielle Marie Yap, senior editor at CarnivoreStyle, told FI.

UPDATE 10.13.23: Food prices have become a political issue in countries around the world. The outcome of elections this year could pivot on candidates’ plans for tackling food inflation. Agnieszka de Sousa reports in Bloomberg:

Whether it’s bread or onions, food has the power to make or break a country’s leadership. How nations secure their staples is looming large in elections across the world with war in Ukraine and now the Middle East.

Starting with New Zealand and Poland this weekend, at least a quarter of the global population will head to the polls over the next eight months or so. Those countries will be followed by Argentina, the Netherlands and Egypt, and then Indonesia and India in 2024. Among them are some of the top suppliers of everything from rice and palm oil to milk and soymeal. Others are strategic locations for the flow of staples like wheat.

Politicians have an eye on two core constituents: consumers and producers. Some governments aiming to stay in power are restricting exports of foodstuffs, proposing measures to protect rural communities, or slowing the pace of climate policies that would affect farmers.

Food is just one of a long list of electoral issues, but it has global repercussions. The politics threaten to impact global trade, prices and the economies of import-dependent nations. Erratic weather, meanwhile, has ravaged agricultural land from the US to China, and the phenomenon known as El Niño is back, risking further damage to crops.

Then there’s war. Before Russia’s invasion, Ukraine exported more grain than the entire European Union combined and supplied half of the globally traded sunflower oil. The conflict between Hamas and Israel pushed up the price of crude oil, which could have a knock-on effect for food production. The expectation is that Israel is preparing a ground war after vowing to wipe out the Iran-backed militants.

“We are in a world where everybody’s pandering to domestic issues,” said Tim Benton, a research director at Chatham House in London specializing in food security. “That world of protectionism driven by elections and polarization and inward-looking domestic politics might well play out large.”

UPDATE 5.23.23: The world is more unstable now than it has been in a long time. What Americans are looking for is stability, resilience, and reliability. They’re not getting any of that from Washington, D.C. Prices are skyrocketing, especially for food. More Americans are looking at producing their own food in their backyards. The best guide they can find for that is Joel Salatin. Here’s a video of Salatin discussing resilient food systems and regenerative farming:


UPDATE 6.15.22: The last year has been one of regular disruptions to the supply chain. One way you can better ensure your access to the things you need is to buy them locally. Farmer Joel Salatin, “the Real Mr. America,” recently gave a talk to CalaverasGROWN, in which he discussed “food insurance,” by which he meant subscribing to food deliveries from local farmers. Salatin explained that this type of insurance would make it easier for both farmer and consumer to mitigate the risks in the food supply chain. He said, “We have insurance for everything; car, life, health, home. …Why not have food insurance offered by local farmers through a prepaid subscription program? The consumer needs to share the risk of farming, and the farmer can facilitate this by offering a subscription program, where when you buy in, if I’m eating, you’re eating.” Read more here.

A version of this post was originally posted on July 14, 2021.

Joel Salatin’s vision of freedom, in which man is self sufficient, has come under fire from leftist papers like Mother Jones and the New York Times. They can’t fathom a future in which men are free and not dependent on the state. That’s the future espoused by Salatin.

Throughout the years here at Richardcyoung.com, you’ve read many times about Joel Salatin. I’ve told you about his Polyface Farm and shopping local. Now, Ginny Garner explains at LewRockwell.com, Salatin’s personality, and how he reminds her of another popular subject on this site, Congressman Ron Paul. She writes (abridged):

Sitting on a picnic bench across from Joel Salatin on a beautiful day on Polyface Farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, I am struck with how much the farmer, author and lecturer reminds me of Ron Paul.

Mission-driven, a leader who has inspired millions around the world, a Christian, family man, libertarian, self-sufficient, charismatic, energetic, enterprising, optimistic, hard-working, a teacher, a communicator, a brilliant unorthodox thinker, confident yet humble, good-humored, athletic, frugal, and possessing a strong bearing and commanding presence. A great and good man. (pause just a minute and compare Joel to that total fool Americans are purported to have voted into the White House, never mind our creep of a Vice President.)

If you type the question “Who is the most famous farmer in the world?” into Google, the result is Joel Salatin. He has appeared in many documentaries on factory farming and/or the rogue food movement including Polyfaces, Food Inc., Fresh, Revolution Food, Sustenance, Freedom From Choice, What’s With Wheat?, American Meat, and At the Fork. Ron Paul also appears in Farmageddon which shows government agents swat teaming family farmers for selling raw milk, destroying their animals and their livelihoods. Salatin has written 12 books, lectured all over the world, edits the Stockman Grass Farmer, and the self-described “lunatic farmer” shares his musings online.

At Polyface Farm simple farming methods are modified by new technologies. The farm is regenerative, sustainable and organic: no pesticides, chemical fertilizers or antibiotics have ever been used and seeds have never been planted. The carbon-based ecosystem is teaming with life. The movement of the animals and their meeting with grass on the farm is carefully and lovingly managed. High-tech fencing keeps the animals in and the predators out. The cows, chickens, hens, baby chicks, and rabbits look healthy and content and so does the team who work on the farm.

Ginny Garner

Read more here.

Read more about Joel Salatin, and America’s other “Food King” Alfie Oakes, here:

 

If you’re willing to fight for Main Street America, click here to sign up for my free weekly email.

Richard C. Young
Latest posts by Richard C. Young (see all)