Joel Salatin

As an increasing number of people are questioning the health of our current US food system, as well as those that consume from within it, more and more eaters are paying attention to the foods they eat. Hungry not only for the, “who, where, and how” of their food, consumers are questioning the integrity and effectiveness of the systems weʼve put in place to regulate, control, and protect our food supply as a whole.

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. 

Be careful what you wish for. Sometimes that’s the prime thought in my mind, especially when I’m staring at a bushel basket of carrots and the prospect of a day of canning ahead of me when I’d much rather be doing ANYTHING else. Well, this is what I wished for and dreamed about for years, and for the most part, I am not sorry I made the decision to move from the suburbs to the country.

If you’re anything like me, you’ll be squeezing in some last-minute shopping this holiday season. To help, I’ve put together a list of some of my favorite food-related books and DVDs. Whenever possible I like to do my gift shopping at two places I frequent: food coops and the internet. Here are items you can pick up while you get your groceries or surf the web in your PJ’s:

For the traditionalist... 

Wintertime in Minnesota: that wonderful time of year when we Minnesotans proudly brag about our frigid climate, huge piles of snow, and the short, dark days we endure throughout this season. I'm one of those crazy Minnesotans who loves winter. To my surprise, since we moved to the farm I have grown to appreciate it even more.

On the farm, the dormancy of winter gives us much-needed time to rejuvenate. During the spring, summer, and fall, we make many decisions each day based on what we think Mother Nature will require (should we tap the trees? Plant the tomatoes? Water the apple trees? Split the bee hives?). But during the winter, Mother Nature is free to express herself as she desires. All we have to do is clean up the snow occasionally, when she dumps on us.

I’m a firm believer in the power of the marketplace, that every dollar we spend on food is a binary vote: either FOR an agriculture system that makes our bodies, our communities, and our environment healthier, or AGAINST it.

The movie Fresh is one of our favorites. Compelling, entertaining, warm, funny, and unabashedly hopeful, the documentary aims to forward the cause of good, sustainable food by making it accessible. As director Ana Sophia Joanes put it in our interview last summer:

Alex Christensen is a regular contributor to Simple, Good, and Tasty.

I was lucky to have the chance to conduct a phone interview with ana Sophia joanes recently. Ana is the director of the terrific food documentary “Fresh,” which has taken the Twin Cities by storm this summer and doesn’t seem to be letting up anytime soon (additional screenings are scheduled for the Birchwood Cafe on their big screen later this month). “It’s been an unexpected and amazing response,” ana says, “just completely grassroots and word of mouth.