The vegetarian with a cooler full of meat: touring Polyface Farms

-By Lisa

I’m just gonna come out with it - I’ve got myself a little crush on a farmer.

Which is admittedly odd, that a vegetarian is fascinated by a guy who kills chickens on a regular basis.

I’ve been anxious to spend some time at Polyface since I saw Food, Inc and like many people, became totally enamored with Joel Salatin and his perspectives on farming and sustainable food systems. I was expecting the farm to feel like Disneyland since all the publicity and fanfare. That much national attention has a tendency towards corrupting even the purest things in life.

But what I experienced was an authentic, heartfelt family farm with a firm commitment to ethical practices. There’s no green-washing to be found. Joel didn’t hop on the hay wagon because he wanted to be in a movie; Polyface has been operating this way for a couple generations. The farm was what I had hoped it would be. There was nothing slick but the cow patties.

It’s no wonder Joel has a rock-star-like cult following. The man is charismatic. He led the two hour tour, explaining his simple and holistic approach to beyond-organic farming, while we wandered amongst the most contented looking cows, pigs and chickens I’ve ever seen. This ain’t no CAFO. (And if you just got confused - see Katherine's post last week about CAFOs and her Polyface cow share.)

Take, for example, the pigs or “pigerators” as they are called. Polyface got into the pig business, not intending to be pig farmers, but as a way to build compost. The cows add their own homemade fertilizer to the bedding of wood chips, sawdust, and old hay in their “lounge” barn. This bedding ferments as the cows walk on it, tightly packing the material. Joel then brings in the pigs and adds corn to the pile as an incentive for them to forage. They oxygenate the compost pile by constantly turning it over in search of tasty treats. This compost is then used to fertilize the soil throughout the 550 acre farm. The pigs work to better the farm by embodying their essential pig-ness. Seriously, what more is there to a fulfilling life -- for any of us?

The tour is really more of a discussion, as guests are encouraged to ask questions and Joel warns upfront that no topic is off limits. And only a few people started to squirm when his philosophy of animal husbandry extrapolated seamlessly into his prediction of failure for the government bailout.

He spouts his lyrical yet rational wide-sweeping ideologies about farming and life. He feels that factory farming’s oppressive treatment of food animals is not merely morally reprehensible, but also points to our willingness to abuse other human inhabitants of the planet and ultimately, ourselves. This guy loves playing in his own backyard but understands the global implications of every action.

It’s exactly that understanding of deep interconnectivity and the celebration of essential nature that make me feel good about buying meat. I’m in a mixed marriage; Husband is an omnivore, I’ve been vegetarian since the age of three. My reasons for not eating meat are numerous and unwavering but I believe this choice to be a deeply personal one. So, he and I have this unspoken agreement to never try to change each other’s eating habits and thus, there has never been a conflict about this. However, I do try to encourage him to eat ethically and Polyface is the epitome of that. So, though I am slightly skived out by raw meat and I don’t know my tenderloin from my t-bone, I took a cooler and felt great about filling it full of happy, healthy, meaty Polyface gifts.

And for myself, I got a “grass fed” t-shirt to profess my groupie status.

The farm is a transparent operation, you can go at anytime Monday through Saturday to wander around and see anything. The organized Lunatic Tours are two hours long, cost $10 and are led by Joel or his son Daniel. They run through October and still have spaces available.

For more from Lisa, check out www.justherejustnow.com