For anyone who would like to know a little more about the current state of agriculture in this country, and why there is a local food movement afoot, I highly recommend this book.
Joel Salatin is considered by many to be the guru of the farm movement. And while his farm may not seem small to a person who has a few chickens, a few sheep, and maybe a horse or goat, by industry standards, it is.
More importantly, he shows us how the industrial giant that is the food industry ("industry" being the operative word, and yes, I'm using it repetitively on purpose) is doing its best to control everything we eat - not just their corner of the market (their corner, of course, being over 90% of what we eat).
He also highlights the nutritional merits of normal food vs. industrial food. Why do I want to have my own chickens? If having FRESH eggs wasn't enough of an argument, or having more flavorful, more nutritional eggs wasn't enough of an argument, how about the fact that eggs purchased from the store are required to be bathed in chlorine before they can be sold? Eggshells are permeable, folks - let's think about this. (Chlorine is a poison - just in case you didn't know.)
Now, I may not agree with the man's politics, nor with all his thoughts on how wild areas are under-utilized, he makes a good number of salient points.
I don't offer this book up for your consideration to try to change your opinion. I offer it to further the cause of education. You can make whatever decisions you want - just be informed before you make them, that's all I ask.
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