Joel Salatin, 2010

Have you ever wondered: So what really is the difference, anyway? Can there really be that much difference between the way two farmers operate? After all, a cow is a cow and the land is the land, isnt it?

This is the book that makes the contrasts clear. Gleaning stories from his fifty years (okay, he started young) as a localized, compost-fertilized, pasture-based, beyond organic farmer, Joel Salatin explores the metes and bounds of the differences. They are profound.

From how farmers view soil and water, to how they build fences, market their products or involve their families, this book shows a depth of thought the why that expresses itself through farms like his families Polyface Farm in Virginias Shenandoah Valley. In the international spotlight for this different kind of farm, Salatin explains how the why creates such a different food model. While modern conventional industrial food advocates pooh-pooh the alternative paradigm, Salatin shows with good humor and stories how this alleged lunacy actually offers a life of sheer ecstasy.

Anyone wishing to understand and articulate the issues in the industrial food vs. local transparent ecological food system debate will appreciate this book. Prepare to laugh, to be challenged, and to be empowered.