Folks, This Ain't Normal: A Farmer's Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World

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Folks, This Ain't Normal: A Farmer's Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World

4.16 of 5 stars 4.16 · rating details · 770 ratings · 153 reviews

From farmer Joel Salatin's point of view, life in the 21st century just ain't normal. In FOLKS, THIS AIN'T NORMAL, he discusses how far removed we are from the simple, sustainable joy that comes from living close to the land and the people we love. Salatin has many thoughts on what normal is and shares practical and philosophical ideas for changing our lives in small ways...more

Hardcover, 384 pages

Published October 10th 2011 by Center Street

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Lists with This Book

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Locavore Reading List

9th out of 50 books — 155 voters

Folks, This Ain't Normal by Joel Salatin

The Starfish and the Spider by Ori Brafman

Next Generation Democracy by Jared Duval

Inspirations for Change

2nd out of 23 books — 13 voters

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Community Reviews

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Apr 23, 2012 Sally marked it as to-read-library-has

Shelves: gardening, natural-living, health

Library's buying it!!
I wish I could make every paragraph into a quote.

Chapter summaries:
1. Children, Chores, Humility and Health
Work is good for us, and having our kids work is not only good for their health and character, but vital to the family and community as well.

2. A Cat is a Cow is a Chicken is my Aunt
Animals don't need to be treated as humans to be treated well. Each animal has its biological needs which are different than humans'. To anthropomorphize animals' needs is not only to mistre...more

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Oct 29, 2011 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Joel Salatin can be a little too folksy at times. I have a feeling that if he & I were to sit down & talk politics, we might shortly start shouting at each other. He tends to over generalize about people whose views he dislikes; for example, it's an awfully big leap to assume that a woman who complains to her HOA about a neighbor's tomato plant is also a Democrat. This does not make him even one iota wrong about the state of food in this country, however. There is information within this...more

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Apr 28, 2012 Sherral rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: my-kids-have-to-read-this-someday

Joel Salatin is one of my heroes and I really enjoyed getting to know him better through this book. There were a few parts that I felt were kinda repetitive, but like it was on purpose. I felt like Joel was saying, "You need to hear this again. You need to hear this again. This is important, you need to hear this again." And I did need to hear it again, lol!
Read it! It will change the way you think, how you view the world, and how you react to what you see. (At least, I hope it will!)

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Apr 27, 2012 David Reber rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: recommended-reads, food-science, food-politics, agriculture, horticulture, food-studies

Do you know what you are eating? Then why do you continue to eat fast foods and let your children drink soda? Joel Salatin nails it again with his down to Earth humor revealing more truths about the food industry and once again illustrating that "You are what you eat and what your food eats." Admittedly, this book has my head spinning and I don't know what to do with most of the information the Salatin discusses but at least it has me thinking.

This book is a must read.

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Jan 06, 2013 Dan Allosso rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: permaculture

In his introduction to Joel Salatin’s recent book Folks, This Ain’t Normal, Allan Nation says Salatin pulls no punches, which “completely discombobulates” audiences who expect a slow-local food advocate to be a leftist hippie. In this book, Salatin proudly displays his religiosity, his social conservatism, and his political libertarianism — so much so, in fact, that these elements threaten to distract the reader from his central point.

That point is that a food system dominated by multinational c...more In his introduction to Joel Salatin’s recent book Folks, This Ain’t Normal, Allan Nation says Salatin pulls no punches, which “completely discombobulates” audiences who expect a slow-local food advocate to be a leftist hippie. In this book, Salatin proudly displays his religiosity, his social conservatism, and his political libertarianism — so much so, in fact, that these elements threaten to distract the reader from his central point.

That point is that a food system dominated by multinational corporations, in which local production is seen as eccentric and local markets are discouraged by heavy-handed regulation, is fundamentally abnormal and in the long run, suicidal. And that historically, extended, multigenerational families are normal. Salatin is arguing for old-fashioned values he calls “connection, heritage, tradition.” I agree with him on all these points.

The book is really a series of essays that all circle around this central theme. Some of them are excellent, and would probably work well as free-standing articles or as chapters to read in a class (Environmental History, for instance). “Children, Chores, Humility, and Health” is one of these. It begins with a discussion of firewood that dwells on the physical details and shows an intimate knowledge of the subject drawn from a lifetime of experience, and then continues to a discussion of freedom, responsibility, and growing up on a farm. And it provides this point, for grounding the discussion: “As recently as 1946, nearly 50 percent of all produce grown in America came out of backyard gardens” (p. 13).

In the next chapter, Salatin says “No long-term example exists in which tillage is sustainable. It always requires injection of biomass from outside the system or a soil-development pasture cycle” (20). This is an interesting claim, and it may well have an element of truth to it; but it (and the chapter) seems motivated by Salatin’s desire to debunk the vegetarians who argue against meat (especially beef) production and consumption. “Judgmentalism combined with ignorance is a dangerous combination,” Salatin warns (30). And he makes a series of points I agree with: CAFOs suck, and the fact “That a large percentage of landfilled material is animal-edible food waste” really should “strike us as criminal.” But he goes on to claim “nobody goes hungry due to lack of food. They go hungry due to lack of distribution” (32); which suggests that we could feed as many people animal protein as we could feed vegetable protein, if we could just get the system right. Salatin believes the whole world can be fed on meat, if we would just go back to pasturage rather than grain-feeding. Whether this is true or not, he’s clearly right that a lot of the marginal land that’s in crop production would be more sustainable as rangeland.

Talking about local food production, Salatin points out that it takes fifteen calories to get a calorie of food onto the average American table, and four of those calories are transportation (67). And he points out that the key to local food viability is “a seasonal eating commitment” (68). “Unless and until the East and North step up to their bioregional responsibilities,” he continues, “California will be unable to feed itself” (69) But again, “half of all the food fit for human consumption never gets eaten,” because of long-distance transport and warehousing. This is incredibly inefficient, and will seem more so as petroleum prices rise. And then there’s the frivolous use of resources instead of farming: “America has thirty-five million acres of lawn and thirty-six million acres devoted to housing and feeding recreational horses, and that doesn’t even count golf courses,” Salatin says (76). And if people “really wanted to save water, how about attacking flush toilets that use potable water?” (34) Another good point.

Salatin suggests as a rule of thumb “to only eat food that was available before 1900” (109). He has some very interesting things to say about the Progressive Era and its effect on farming, and also about writers like Edward Faulkner (Plowman’s Folly, 1943) and Newman Turner (Fertility Farming, 1951) who argued against the agro-industrial model right from the start. These authors all deserve a closer look (129ff).

Salatin says “By denying the herbivores access to a paddock until the grass has rested enough to go through that middle rapid growth period of the S curve, we metabolize far more sunlight into biomass than would otherwise occur…And if every farm and ranch that has cows in the United States would practice this biomimicry, in fewer than ten years we would sequester all the atmospheric carbon generated since the beginning of the industrial age. For more information, visit Holistic Management International and Carbon Farmers of America—two groups doing the empirical analysis and demonstrating the efficacy of these principles” (195-196). If this is true, it is very cool!

So Salatin makes a bunch of really good points, which for me are slightly marred by the number of times he says “Jesus never said” this or that. And I got the point about the food police without needing to read quite so much about how Salatin and his friends have been inconvenienced by the USDA and FDA. And calling Abraham Lincoln “an idiotic dreamer” is going a bit far beyond what was needed to make his point. This type of “pulling no punches” just annoys and alienates people. I’m surprised Salatin’s editors let him indulge himself to this degree. And when he goes after “the tax-and-spend crowd [who] dishonor hardworking Americans” and “government manipulation of the housing market, by demanding that high-risk loans be made to unqualified people,” Salatin is exposing his dependence on the Fox echo-chamber for his perspective on recent events. Again, how the editors thought these passages were a good way to advance his theme is just beyond me.

Maybe Salatin has become to big a celebrity on the speaking circuit, to the point where he thinks he’s got something to say on any topic, not just the ones where he has a lifetime of experience and a thorough command of all the details. The excesses he allows himself in this book detract from its force, but Folks, This Ain’t Normal is still an important contribution to the slow-local food cause. (less)

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Mar 17, 2013 Jenny rated it 4 of 5 stars

I first read about the author, Joel Salatin, in Michael Pollan's book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and thought he had a very interesting approach to food and farming, so I read this book to find out more about it. Mr Salatin's political thinking is way to the right and more libertarian than mine, and he tells us halfway through the book that he is a six-day creationist, so he and I don't see eye to eye there either. For these reasons I found the last three chapters or so of this book impossible to t...more

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Jan 02, 2013 Aspen Junge rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: cheap-college-education, food, politics-and-policy, save-the-world

If you are familiar with Joel Salatin, you know him as the salty, libertarian, grass-based farmer from Virginia seen in The Omnivore's Dilemma and Food, Inc. Here he is at his saltiest and least restrained.

This book is Salatin's polemic about the differences between biological farming (which he practices) versus the modern industrial, chemical, cheap-energy based system of farming, and why his version is better. He takes on the ideas that fertilizer/tillage/CAFO farming is the only way to feed a...more

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Oct 24, 2012 Mjlibrary NDSCS marked it as to-read

Shelves: etransmitter

Cataloging in process
From this farmer’s point of view, life in the 21st century is not normal. We are removed from the joy that comes from living close to the land and the people that we love, and he has many ideas on who to change our lives in small ways that create a large impact. For this farmer, food should be local, natural, seasonal, and wholesome. He is speaking in particular to the people who have no idea what a carrot looks like that isn’t peeled and shaped into a so-called “baby carrot...more

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Jul 19, 2012 Natalie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: food-politics

As someone who lived in South America once upon a time, who saw what life is like when food is LOCAL (little shops on every corner, people who rode big huge tricycles through the streets selling rabbit, milk, open air "ferias"/farmer's markets, etc.) and loved every minute of it, this book resonated with me.

Did you know that before 1946 there were no supermarkets? Well, that's what Joel Salatin says. I have yet to fact check it (and I need to feed my kids breakfast, so I can't right now, sorry)....more

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Jun 05, 2012 David Galloway rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: agriculture

Joel Salatin is one of the leaders of the Beyond Organic movement to provide fresh farm-raised food at an inexpensive price using organic principles. Unfortunately bureaucracy purported to provide safe food but instead favoring industrial producers while pushing out small innovative farmers mean that by the time Joel's beef, pork, and chicken have gone through all the bureaucratic loopholes the added cost of such things as adding a public handicapped-accessible bathroom in his 500 sq ft farmstan...more

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May 15, 2012 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars

I think everyone should read this book, along with Animal Vegetable Miracle. Joel Salatin is a self-described "Christian-conservative-libertarian-environmentalist-capitalist-lunatic" who runs Polyface Farms (http://www.polyfacefarms.com/). Like most non-fiction books, it's a bit long-winded in trying to get its point across (and Salatin, more than most, seems to digress and get lost in his train of thought). But the thesis is mostly sound and he provides some very compelling arguments for buying...more

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Feb 01, 2012 Tuck rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: wine-and-food

Joe salatin has become famous over the decades as a Virginia farmer who uses older folkways of farming to successfully have a modern and profitable farm. So he does not use any chemicals or pharmaceuticals in his rather large livestock operation , but rather composted fertilizers, and symbiotic animal living for soil and animal health respectively. And has been wildly successful, from about 100 acres of arable (and 400 of woods/forest) he and his family have taken a highly eroded and worn out fa...more

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Nov 07, 2011 Cathy rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was a very interesting book. How is life different than it was a scant 80 to 100 years ago? Dramatically. People - particularly American people - are for the most part completely disconnected to their basic needs. Food, water, energy, heat -- all essential for life, are provided to us by some process we mostly don't understand. If we suddenly found ourselves without them, or the means to procure them, we would all literally die for lack of knowing how to get them ourselves. In a word, we ar...more

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Jun 13, 2012 Alison Whittington rated it 4 of 5 stars

An excellent, should-read for anyone who eats food in America, but be warned that the writing ranges from precisely articulate to rambling steam-of-consciousness, sometimes in the same paragraph, and people of any political persuasion will find themselves both vehemently agreeing with him and vehemently disagreeing with him frequently through the book - again, sometimes in the same paragraph. This is one of my favorite things about the book, actually, as the author really forced me to rethink so...more

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Feb 24, 2013 David Carver rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction

"Folks, this ain't normal" could easily have been divided into two more coherent books - one on the thought behind and methods of traditional family farming, and one on the decline in personal responsibility that has led to our modern un-food culture. Most of the books Salatin cites belong to the first category. From both the tone and organization of the book, clearly Salatin has produced less a collection of essays about food culture, which would focus on statistics and a wider scope of stories...more "Folks, this ain't normal" could easily have been divided into two more coherent books - one on the thought behind and methods of traditional family farming, and one on the decline in personal responsibility that has led to our modern un-food culture. Most of the books Salatin cites belong to the first category. From both the tone and organization of the book, clearly Salatin has produced less a collection of essays about food culture, which would focus on statistics and a wider scope of stories to the exclusion of personal anecdote, and more a manifesto for his entire philosophy and vocation, one that details his thoughts on (by the end) every issue he deems important, albeit all related to farming. For most of the book, his ability to complement a broader fact with a story about his own Polyface farm makes it easier to understand the issues involved and, perhaps more to the point, his logic in dealing with them. This works also against the book; since most of his examples proceed from his own experience on his own farm, his listed advice, which he gives at the end of each chapter, has an edge of isolated pontification.

If there are any reasons why a reader ignorant of the traditional farming movement would not like this book, I'd imagine the first would be Salatin's unfortunate tendency to mix a folksy voice with a polemical voice. This leads to the book feeling overly simple, although he relies on no small number of data, and at the same time overly aggressive, although the substance of his and others' anti-FDA stories reveals that if anyone has been harassed in the local food fight, it is the farmers and not the bureaucracy. I very much liked reading this book. I found it well stocked with common sense and good advice and, based on both, will probably amend my eating behavior in ways that even a tell-all like "Food, Inc." could not have inspired. That said, I would probably have enjoyed it more had Salatin removed a significant portion of the technical information, such as farming practices and USDA regulations, and been satisfied to write it as an autobiography focussed on his life on the farm, which would allow his numerous anecdotes to move forward as a story. At the moment, they lie at hand, ready like ammunition to demonstrate the point made in each issue-based chapter.

This book could have been great, but is, in the last analysis, only good. I do not think that should keep anyone from reading, enjoying, and heeding it.(less)

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Jan 04, 2012 Michael Cremin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: green, life-lessons, nonfiction

I'm a big fan of Joel Salatin. I first came across him in the excellent documentary Food, Inc., then read more about his Polyface farm in The Omnivore's Dilemma. He's written several books; Folks, This Ain't Normal is his newest, and the only one I've read so far. I'll write my review in two sections, because I had two strong reactions to the book.

First, Joel Salatin makes farming seem like the most interesting thing in the world. His farm (and I am simplifying here) takes sunlight, turns it int...more I'm a big fan of Joel Salatin. I first came across him in the excellent documentary Food, Inc., then read more about his Polyface farm in The Omnivore's Dilemma. He's written several books; Folks, This Ain't Normal is his newest, and the only one I've read so far. I'll write my review in two sections, because I had two strong reactions to the book.

First, Joel Salatin makes farming seem like the most interesting thing in the world. His farm (and I am simplifying here) takes sunlight, turns it into grass that's eaten by cows who produce protein via milk and meat. His chickens eat the bugs out of the cow poop, and produce eggs. Pigs trample the cow poop mixed in with hay to create compost, which is used on the grass. Salatin has essentially created a closed system of food production that runs on sunlight, uses no drugs or chemicals, and creates incredibly healthy food. His work is both simple and profound. So as a book about the workings of Polyface Farm, this is great. I learned a ton about artisanal and heritage foods, as well as how difficult it is for small farmers and producers to get their products to market. Also, Salatin does a wonderful job demolishing the moral vanity of the "we're vegetarians/we only shop at Whole Foods/We only buy organic" crowd by describing the true costs associated with these choices. Bravo (and this is coming from a guy who probably fits into that particular group!)

Which brings me to my second reaction. Reading about the governmental regulations farmers like Salatin face makes me want to join a militia and revolt. The confluence between Big Ag, Big Pharma, and Big Government is staggering. The USDA essentially works for Monsanto, Tyson, and other massive business interests who use lobbyists to create a business climate that is deeply inimical to the needs of small farmers. It's no wonder people don't farm anymore: they, quite literally, are regulated out of business. The inconsistencies, contradictions, and ham-handedness of the government is remarkable. I found myself becoming quite angry as I read. Quite angry.

Another, related, part of the book that was disturbing was Salatin's discussion of the inheritance tax. Basically, if farmland is rezoned by some bureaucrat as commercial land, or as agricultural land (which is what it is, of course, but bear with me) instead of regular old land, the price of the land increases dramatically. Not only does this cause small farmers to face huge tax bills, but it makes farms--land rich, money poor--eligible for the inheritance tax. So imagine a situation where your parents buy five acres of land for $10,000 in the 1940s. Nothing special about it; just land. Some zipper head in the county offices decides that your parent's land is now commercial land, and it's worth $1,000,000 fifty years later. Sure, your parents could sell the land and make a tidy profit, but if they want you to inherit the land and continue farming...you need to come up some some ridiculous amount of money to pay the inheritance tax. Same land. Same farm. Big chunk to Uncle Sam to 'spread the wealth around' as a famous Marxist recently put it. Just reading about this made me want to take up arms.

This is an excellent and informative book about how food is produced (and not produced) in America. It is also an eye-opener with regard to how much control the government and big business want to have over what we eat. Each day that goes by makes me want to move far away from people and go live in the woods of Maine. Each day I realize how much freedom we have ceded to Washington in the name of things like security and equity. This book has certainly added fuel to that particular fire. (less)

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Oct 15, 2012 Stacy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: food-writing, environmental

Since the shout out he received from Michael Pollen in "The Omnivore's Dilemma", Joel Salatin and his Polyface Farm have been in the spotlight of America's food issues debate. He travels regularly giving speeches, and I must say, this book is more like a transcript of a speech than a literary work, complete with his personal lingo, jokes, a lot of repetition, and strong language. (Not cussing, just the expression of very strong opinions.)

See, Joel is not a guy who can be easily categorized and h...more

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Nov 02, 2011 Joy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

This is a very interesting book that tackles a wide range of issues that are all related to our current food supply and system, and how "this ain't normal." I learned a lot from this book, especially about how the current system of farming with chemical fertilizers instead of manure came about - to put it simply, moving/hauling manure was such hard work before tractors, that the idea of using a bag of chemicals was truly a godsend. Of course, the complete lack of innovation using current technol...more This is a very interesting book that tackles a wide range of issues that are all related to our current food supply and system, and how "this ain't normal." I learned a lot from this book, especially about how the current system of farming with chemical fertilizers instead of manure came about - to put it simply, moving/hauling manure was such hard work before tractors, that the idea of using a bag of chemicals was truly a godsend. Of course, the complete lack of innovation using current technology to return to safer and more earth-friendly methods is a whole 'nother topic, and one that the author discusses at length. There's a fair bit of discussion in the last third of the book about the current "Food Safety Regime" and the "Food Police" who enforce it, and it's enough to send chills down your spine - the government is not interested in controlling food safety, they're interested in controlling access to the food markets. The concept of cheap energy making CAFO's feasible is now painfully obvious, and it's clear that when energy costs go up, the CAFO's will decline. The effects of selective farm subsidies are interesting as well, especially as relates to corn/soy prices and supply, as both are so cheap now that they are used for animal feed when historically grain was so energy-expensive to grow that it was only for wealthy people to enjoy. Finally, I found the discussion on the costs of food to be quite interesting, especially since the USA spends the least amount per capita on food of the entire world, and yet we have the highest incidence of obesity, heart disease, arthritis, and other similar diseases. Good food is worth far more than the cost in money, and I am definitely going to be patronizing the local farmers' markets even more than I do now. The author has suggestions at the end of each chapter on how the reader can become involved and improve the food climate in this country, from keeping a few chickens to turn food waste into eggs to only buying meat from local farmers. The overall point of the book is that many food safety and quality concerns could be avoided if people ate local food, knew their farmer, and quit trying to feed themselves the cheapest possible calories. "That ain't normal" is quite an apt description, after all.(less)

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Aug 26, 2012 Wendy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I think Joel does great work regarding farming and food production. But im not reviewing Joel or even his philospohy This is a book review and what I'm disappointed about t is the patronizing tone. Page 168 "I have news for you: That lumber doesn't grow there (in a hardware shop)..."

Not exactly news to me. Is it to you? There are many examples like that which I found annoying.

To even elect to pick up this book suggests the reader has an interest in health, food and the environment. There is al...more

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Jan 26, 2013 Mark Anderson rated it 5 of 5 stars

I truly enjoyed this book and agree with most of what the author says. Interesting information on a variety of topics specifically interesting for anyone who wants to become more self sufficient. If you don't want to become more self sufficient maybe this book will give you a push in that direction. If you've watched Food, Inc. you've seen the author he is the person talking about small farm and organic growers. I haven't ready any of his other books but plan to. Some key topics I found interest...more

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Jun 01, 2012 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 5-star, farming

I already loved Joel Salatin before I read this book, but now he's my absolute hero! If you know who I'm talking about you've probably read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollen and/or seen the documentary Food, Inc. and if you don't know who Joel Salatin is you ought to because he is single-handedly changing the food and farming world for the better. In Folks, This Ain't Normal Salatin expounds on everything related to food and farming in our society today and how far away from normal we rea...more

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Mar 23, 2013 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a well written book with many valid points. I agreed with many of the authors points and there were definitely a few things I had not thought of, which were interesting. For example, the first chapter is titled, "Children, Chores, Humility, and Health." In this chapter, the author ponders the question of why kids are out causing trouble late at night in our society. He states that his kids went to bed at 9-10 p.m. and were grateful to do so, after school and chores. I completely agree w...more

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Jan 18, 2012 Faith rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

This book was better at the beginning than the end. The first part focuses on the stuff I'm interested in- farming, food, history. The second have gets more and more rant filled and more and more about the author's libertarian leanings. I'm not sure if at some point I had just hit my rant limit or if it was easier to take when I agreed with him more.

The book is quite stream of consciousness, which was annoying at times. The best parts where when he explained about how his farm worked or the sci...more

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Jan 20, 2013 Jef Fry rated it 4 of 5 stars

For my Fathers birthday this year I gave him a book that I just knew he'd absolutely love and that I might want to read too...Or was it that I knew I would absolutely love it and that he might want to read too? I began reading it right after it came in the mail and hadn't finished reading it before it was time to give it to him as a gift so, just to make sure it was suitable for his reading, I took it upon myself to finish it before he began.

I suppose most people would know Joel from his 2008 "p...more For my Fathers birthday this year I gave him a book that I just knew he'd absolutely love and that I might want to read too...Or was it that I knew I would absolutely love it and that he might want to read too? I began reading it right after it came in the mail and hadn't finished reading it before it was time to give it to him as a gift so, just to make sure it was suitable for his reading, I took it upon myself to finish it before he began.

I suppose most people would know Joel from his 2008 "performance" in the well-known documentary entitled Food, Inc. He was the quirky, yet strangely charming farmer you could just immediately tell was a real "character." Well, he translates that same character through his writing in Folks, This Ain't Normal seeming socially alienated at times and the epitome of intelligence at others.

Three things to associate with Joel would be these: sustainable agriculture, libertarian, and christian. Of course Joel is more than the sum of these 3 component parts, but for our purposes, we'll leave his background bio as just that.

I gave the book 4 out of 5 stars because I really liked it but didn't quite love it. For the vast majority of the time I spent reading it, I felt like a member of the choir yelling "amen" to what Joel preaches, though I had heard much of it before and a good deal of it seemed like common sense to me. This is, perhaps not the case to much of Joel's readership. You see, I've heard him interviewed on Podcasts several times in the past few months and was raised in a libertarian and christian friendly home and society here outside of Houston, Texas.

A couple aspects about the book that kept me from giving it 5 stars:

Joel may come across too polarizing to many of his readers only interested in his message of sustainable food with his libertarian views and christian beliefs.

The food within the local food system Joel advocates us buying and eating he also touts as healthier than that of industrial food. While I couldn't agree more with Joel on this one, the basis for which he made such claims didn't seem very convincing to me and I often (and still do) found myself asking where he was deriving his dietary wisdom.

Finally, the book gets better the more you read. I'm afraid some might pick it up, read the first couple of chapters, be bored or uninterested and never read the rest. Hang in there. It gets good.

That's it for this one, folks!(less)

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Feb 18, 2013 A.J. rated it 3 of 5 stars

I found this an interesting and engaging read. Salatin's frustration with the industrialisation of food production comes through loud and clear, turning the book into more of a harangue than anything else some of the time. The anecdotes about children's ignorance of food and cooking were heartbreaking, as was the chapter on Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations.

I admire Salatin's determination to make a family-run, sustainable farm a viable business and am amazed by the persistence and tenacity...more

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May 09, 2012 Cindy Cotter rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: food-production

There were lots of ideas in this book that were both interesting and new to me. His argument that a healthy food production system needs plants and animals living and functioning together on the same farm makes a great deal of sense, but I'd never considered it before. His refutation of the argument that huge hen-houses use less space than letting chickens roam through fields was a good example; he pointed out that all those chickens crammed in one spot still needed to eat grain that took space...more

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Feb 12, 2012 Megan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle

This is my first book by Salatin, although I've read profiles and interviews with him before. I wouldn't say that I've been particularly surprised by any of the opinions stated in the book, based on what I've heard from him in previous articles.

Basically, I enjoyed the book for it's eye opening and very personal stories about how difficult and expensive it is to be a mid-scale farmer trying to sell your (GOOD) food to people who want to buy it. Spoiler: it's really hard in today's legal environ...more

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Nov 26, 2012 Denise rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: health-and-food, nonfiction-current-events

I like Joel Salatin, so I can happily chuckle over his rantings and put it down to grumpiness and old age. But his bitter ramblings are not altogether without justification. This is a brilliant entrepreneur who has been subjected to the worst that a government that favors big industry over small business can hand out. Here is a man who built a living on a rocky scrap of soil and has found nothing but obstacle after obstacle in making it profitable. Thankfully his outspokenness has paid off and a...more

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May 02, 2012 Jason rated it 5 of 5 stars

Another great read about how much better we can do with food and the environment. The best safest way to pick your food is still directly from the farmer that created, as no amount of government oversight will make it safe. In fact, all the levels of red tape do little more than make the cost of bad food cheap and high quality medicinal food too expensive for the masses. Until the day that energy costs and government subsidies make local quality food the less expensive option. Great read, funny...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars

this book talks about the state of our food system these days. From mass production of meats, to children not having any chores or responsibilities. It also talks of the importance of preserving foods and eating seasonally. We produce our own meats at our little farm, and this book also speaks about all the rules that the "little guys" like us have to deal with to sell our products to the public. The big message in this book....know your farmer, and where your food comes from....There's a whole...more

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About Joel Salatin

Joel is a nationally renowned speaker on organic farming and "relationship marketing." He is on a mission to develop emotionally, economically and environmentally enhanced agricultural enterprises, and facilitate their duplication around the world. Part of that goal is to produce the best food in the world.

Joel espouses an agricultural paradigm shift that sees plants and animals as partners rather...more

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Books by Joel Salatin

Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal: War Stories from the Local Food Front

You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Start and Succeed in a Farm Enterprise

Holy Cows and Hog Heaven: The Food Buyer's Guide to Farm Friendly Food

The Sheer Ecstasy of Being a Lunatic Farmer

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Quotes from Folks, This Ain't Norm...

“The first supermarket supposedly appeared on the American landscape in 1946. That is not very long ago. Until then, where was all the food? Dear folks, the food was in homes, gardens, local fields, and forests. It was near kitchens, near tables, near bedsides. It was in the pantry, the cellar, the backyard.” — 23 people liked it

“Read things you're sure will disagree with your current thinking. If you're a die-hard anti-animal person, read Meat. If you're a die-hard global warming advocate, read Glenn Beck. If you're a Rush Limbaugh fan, read James W. Loewen's Lies My Teachers Told Me. It'll do your mind good and get your heart rate up.” — 13 people liked it

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title link	preview: Folks, This Ain't Normal: A Farmer's Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World
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