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

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

4.13 of 5 stars 4.13  ·  rating details  ·  716 ratings  ·  111 reviews
Drawing upon 40 years' experience as an ecological farmer and marketer, Joel Salatin explains with humor and passion why Americans do not have the freedom to choose the food they purchase and eat. From child labor regulations to food inspection, bureaucrats provide themselves sole discretion over what food is available in the local marketplace. Their system favors industri...more
Paperback, 338 pages
Published September 17th 2007 by Polyface
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Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)
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Kelda
Joel, you are right but you are nuts and I need to take breaks when reading your book to get the righteous 'tone' out of my head. Since talking to you in person went so badly, my only wish is this: May your daughter become a feminist, recognize oppression everywhere, and bring that also to your dinner table. Yeah, sometimes it sucks to be a farmer, but you've got to figure out a system to help those whose lives suck even more. I only bring this up because you do, you white male, privileged enoug...more
Erin
Okay, ignore the racism, misogyny, xenophobia, etc, and this is a really good book. The ideas pertaining strictly to agriculture are wonderful. If I could rewrite it to get rid of the former list of issues, it would be my bible. As such, the notes I took will have to do.
Jeremy
Sep 23, 2008 Jeremy rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone who eats.
This book offers fascinating insights into the processes involved in modern food creation, how this has changed, and why. It makes a very strong argument for the need to preserve (or bring back) local farms, pointing out the fallacy of the legislation that currently makes this so difficult. While I can't claim to agree with all of the author's view points (he talks about much more than just food and farming in the book), I fully agree with his philosophy that we should openly discuss our beliefs...more
Amy
Apr 29, 2009 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who watch "The 700 Club" for entertainment purposes
Small-time farmer takes on big-city bureaucrats. This guy is a kook! Fascinating! It's in the spirit of the Humanure Handbook and Countryside Magazine with some Focus On The Family stuff thrown in. A little disturbing; wildly entertaining.
Kathy
This is a book that would make Robert Heinlein rolled over in his grave, yet he would completely agree with it. It is a book to make me, the mildly rebellious anti-authority person I am, become a raving Libertarian. It also will make you think twice, if not three times, before you buy meat at the grocery store again.
The author of this book is a farmer in Virginia. He is trying to run a small farm and sell the products from his farm. Most of the things he wants to do, sell eggs, fresh chicken and...more
Erica
A fantastic tirade on bureaucracy and its systematic attempt to eradicate small business. I completely feel for Joel Salatin.

My parents have had many similar experiences working with various cities, counties and state agencies on trying to build houses (they are general contractors). Of course, its Paul Allen who gets tax breaks and zoning variances, but if my parents want to build affordable housing, heaven forbid, lets pile on the fees! (Then people wonder why housing in the Seattle area is s...more
Woowoo
This is a great book for understanding the struggles that true believers of sustainable farming are up against. It is a detailed account of the bureaucratic red-tape family farmers need to navigate in order to make a living and do so in an environmentally sensitive, small business model, high quality product manner.

Salatin makes it easy to understand his point of view by walking the reader through several scenarios that he's experienced firsthand. Salatin's observations, whatever the politics of...more
K. A. Jordan
Since I got involved with the local Farmer's Market (I raise chickens, mostly for eggs) I started to notice many of the regulations Joel speaks about so passionately. It does appear that the deck is stacked against 'the little guy' and Salatin can give better examples than I thought possible.

The demand for local food is growing - and even though farmers are frustrated with regulations - things are getting better a little bit at a time. I can see progress in just 3 years.

Salatin is not a 'knee-j...more
Gord
I'm sorry, Joel. I couldn't finish this. Heck, I could barely get into it.

This actually IS a good primer on the war in the countryside that's being waged between local producers and government. If you can get past the tone: Joel alternates between teacher, preachy and screechy.

Make no mistake: there IS a war being fought over food production and the deck is stacked in favour of large producers, feed lot cattle, battery cage chickens and massive hog operations. You'd think that properly cared for...more
Heidi
This author is at the forefront of the food wars, and to sum up his book -- if I want to raise beef, butcher them at a table out back, and sell them to my neighbors who are perfectly aware of the entire process and the end product turns out cleaner than what you buy in the store, why should the government care? He makes many great points, but the overall feel of his attitude in the book is "I'm right, everyone else is wrong, and you're all idiots if you don't agree with me." In person he might n...more
Karin
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Jessica
Joel Salatin is my hero. In Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal he recounts personal stories about some of the struggles he's had with the "food police", anyone from the USDA to local state-level inspectors, etc. Anyone who thinks smaller-scale farmers have it easier needs to read this book. The most amazing thing to me is that Polyface Farm is still going strong despite all the obstacles the Salatin family has had to constantly overcome! To sum up everything Joel Salatin has to say in this book...more
Jason Yang
I purchased this book directly from Polyface Farms after going on one of their free monthly tours of the farm and I swear I could almost hear Joel Salatin's voice as I read his book. His narrative was hilarious - full of contempt for government bureaucracy and stories of USDA/regulatory nonsense.



Joel takes some pretty aggressive positions for his quest for responsible, local farming, which I can understand, but not all of which I agree with. Still, it was a really insightful experience to unders...more
Stephen
This thoroughly enjoyable book is at once humorous and infuriating. Humorous because of Joel’s genuine, down-to-earth writing style that just makes you chuckle throughout. Infuriating because of the jumble of insane bureaucracy he reveals.

Joel can be pretty far out with some of his political views, but that adds to the appeal of the book. Joel defines authentic — he lets it all hang out, doesn’t mince words, and states things plainly.

Whether you agree with him or not, he’s a likable guy whose th...more
David
Great book. Salatin is so funny and his stories about confronting and circumventing the anti-local food regulators are great. The local food movement is such an important movement in our country. This book chronicles the impact regulation has on small farms and local economies. In addition to pure libertarian arguments of free-choice and governmental non-interference, Salatin also shows practically how regulation is detrimental to the nation's local economies and overall public health. To Salati...more
Lj
Salatin is a "beyond organic" farmer, to use his own words. He writes about the struggles and triumphs of being an independent farmer in America, with some particulars relating to his state of Virginia. He shares his frustrations with bureaucracy and how the food system stifles the production of local, high quality, safe food. He writes on a myriad of topics related to a farmer, but it is very relatable by anyone who has aspirations to change the food system/culture in this country as well as be...more
John
With a title like Everything I Want to Do is Illegal you might expect that Joel Salatin wants to do things that others might find morally questionable, or certainly well outside the norm. And while the latter, at least, might be true in a sense, that in and of itself is a sad commentary on our country, because all Salatin wants to do is to raise and sell to his customers what he believes (and many satisfied customers will agree) is the best animals and animal products in the world, and he wants...more
Raechelle Thomas
Just finished this book; it's an excellent read-very well written. He does get a bit repetive on a few points, and refers to the bible a couple of times-but not in an over the top fashion. There are a couple of points that I don't particularly agree with, but the overall message I fully am on the same page with him and that is that over regulation is simply helping the big corporations of industrial and factory farming and pushing out the true local, small, sustainable farmer.

As an example, I th...more
Ryan
One of the cool things about Local Food issues is that it really resonates for almost anyone, regardless of their political leanings. This book more than any other I've read so clearly puts into perspective the how and why good intentions to fix many of the nasty byproducts of food producers do more to punish those who are doing actual good than just "following compliance". This is especially directed to those of the political left who are some of the strongest forces for the promotion of Local...more
Ruth
If you don't know who Joel Salatin is, he is the all-natural, very opinionated Virginia farmer that was interviewed in the documentary Food Inc. He is quite the libertarian and does not shy away from sharing his political views on nearly every topic under the sun, food related or not. The book could have used another round of editing - it repeats itself and there are grammar issues.

But despite all of that, I'm really glad I read this book. Joel explains how the U.S. food industry is set up to b...more
John Caneday
Joel Salatin is a small farmer who has found a niche providing a unique product--meat uninfected by the industrial food system. In this book he compiles a list of complaints on how the government works to undermine his efforts, and the efforts of like-minded small farmers.

The government's various agencies work in collusion with industrial farmers to push out the small, independent farmer and leave the American diet to industrialized food and all its undernourished animals, contaminated meat, and...more
Jenny
Mar 17, 2009 Jenny rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone who wants a reason to avoid the supermarket
This book is very informative about the current problems in the food production industry and the problems small farmers have fighting the government as they try to produce actually healthy food. Some of the content is down right disgusting and makes me want to never buy store food again. However, the author goes off on a LOT of tangents and after a while I got tired of it, he could have presented his story without all of the ranting. By the last few chapters I just started scanning. Overall I di...more
Amy
This book brings to light the bureaucratic struggles that the average farmer must endure to bring fresh and local food to their community. Unfortunately most regulations are put in place to try and force small producer out. Most people would consider their choice of food a personal decision. Everyone should really think about where they are spending their money and what kind of business practices you are enabling. (PS I do have very different views on some subjects that Salatin commented on thou...more
Christina
It's nice to see that someone gets as annoyed as I do that our government spends an insane amount of time, effort and energy to solve problems that shouldn't even exist in the first place. Salatin does have some ideas I think are nutty tangents (like suggesting that we have an illegal alien problem due to abortion) but I'm sure he would insist that all his points are connected. No matter what your political persuasion or belief system, I guarantee he will offend you at some point in the book, bu...more
Natlukens
I finished it finally!

Ugh. There was a lot in this book about the food industry and other things that I didn't know previously. I had never heard the term "manure lagoon" before. I wasn't even aware of the practice. I didn't know that the cows that become the beef that is on most grocery store shelves are fed chicken poop and even chicken carcasses on a regular basis (and the USDA is ok with it and even encourages it). I'm not a vegetarian, but by choice I don't eat meat often so I probably was...more
Natalie
I loved this book. To sum it up, this book is a bunch of stories of what Joel has gone through to sell his super healthy farm fresh products to the willing consumer. Ever wondered why you can't just buy "LOCAL" in the grocery store? Well, read this and you will find out why. If a small-farm wants to sell their products they have to jump through about 1,000 hoops.

If you have time to read just one chapter, read the one about eggs. In the US, eggs must be washed. But did you know that a hen puts a...more
Claudia
I think his time in the high school Debate Team paid off. Salatin is eloquent, intelligent, passionate and a little crazy. I like him a lot. He also sheds some light and raises some extremely insightful points on the world of farming, the term "Organic" and several other things related to farming such as government regulations, and psychological habits...I enjoyed learning more about sustainable farming, composting and such, but I also enjoyed his perceptive ability to understand the mind games...more
Myrnie
An interesting read, and he makes some valid points about the difficulties of running a small farm in the current regulatory culture. He takes more personal satisfaction than perhaps appropriate at lambasting government employees who are enforcing the rules to the best of their ability (i.e. not turning a blind eye and letting him do whatever he wants) but still, he makes good points that it hardly seems fair that the rules are at times so vague that a change in personnel can mean the law is int...more
Dree
So, 2/3 of the way through this book I lost it to the library queue, and finally got it back.

Basically, Joel Salatin is a nut. I believe he would not necessarily argue with that. He's all over the place, hates Democrats, hates Repulicans, is a homeschooler and hates school systems, is a rabid Christian who thinks people have a responsibility to treat the Earth well (rather than use it up "because God gave it to us"),hates big business, hates environmentalists, hates illegal immigrants (though I...more
Mike Moskos
You'd have to read whole lot of books to get the volume of information Joel packs into this book--I know, I think I've read most of them. Get past what so many other reviewers' described as his rant, and you'll see he's years ahead of many other writers (including the eloquent Michael Pollan who is about 5 years behind Joel's thought, but is nonetheless an incredible read). No surprise of course, Joel and his family have been living this way for a long time. Like Will Allen, his farming practice...more
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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
More about Joel Salatin...
Folks, This Ain't Normal: A Farmer's Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Start and Succeed in a Farm Enterprise Pastured Poultry Profits 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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“How much evil throughout history could have been avoided had people exercised their moral acuity with convictional courage and said to the powers that be, 'No, I will not. This is wrong, and I don't care if you fire me, shoot me, pass me over for promotion, or call my mother, I will not participate in this unsavory activity.' Wouldn't world history be rewritten if just a few people had actually acted like individual free agents rather than mindless lemmings?” 40 people liked it
“When faith in our freedom gives way to fear of our freedom, silencing the minority view becomes the operative protocol.” 37 people liked it
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