After January's great book club meeting, we at SGT are really looking forward to our next bookish get together this month. We will be meeting at the Linden Hills Co-op on Wednesday, March 27th from 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. to discuss Folks, This Ain't Normal: A Farmer's Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World, by the radical farmer and writer Joel Salatin. You might recognize Salatin as the chicken farmer with a mobile chicken coop from Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma and also from the documentary Food, Inc. Salatin is the owner of Polyface Farm in Virginia, an innovative operation that focuses on sustainability and seasonality.
In this book, he discusses just how strange the 21st century's definition of "normal" is. With his witty down-home charm, Salatin touches on a wide array of topics from bovine ecology to child rearing (for example, the first chapter is titled, "Children, Chores, Humility, and Health"). The book has met with glowing reviews, like this one, from Time magazine: "In his new book, Folks, This Ain't Normal, the 54-year-old famer-philosopher emerges as a true American throwback: an agrarian libertarian who wants both Food Inc. and Big Government out of his fields ... It's about better food, yes, but what Salatin is really calling for is responsibility: a declaration of independence from corporations and bureaucracy. He wants us to be full citizens of the food system, like the Jeffersonian citizen-farmers who founded the country." You can also listen to Salatin read an excerpt from the book on the book's web site.
Please feel free to read as much or as little of the book as you want. You don't have to read everything to come to the book club! Meetings are open to all – whether you finish the book or just have fresh ideas about our food system. This is an informal group-led discussion, with no designated speaker. Also, if you can't make it right at 6:30 p.m., please feel free to join us at any point in the evening!
LHC asks that you pre-register for the free event (you can call them at 612-922-1159), but if you haven't pre-registered, please drop in anyway! There will be some light refreshments provided. We hope to see you there!
Photo from Indiana Public Media
