Internationally known for his agricultural practices in Virginia, Joel Salatin calls it like he sees it—and there’s a lot he’s calling out.
Joel Salatin is possibly the most influential farmer in America.
He doesn’t work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Calling himself a “lunatic,” he’s most famous for his central roles in Food, Inc. and The Omnivore's Dilemma, as well as several speeches on the TED stage. Salatin abhors many commercial farming practices, concerns himself with “the pigness of the pig” and says the “organic” label is a scam.
He calls his methods, among other things, “exercising ecology.”
“Isn’t it incredible,” he asks, “that the people who put Froot Loops and Pop-Tarts at the base of the food pyramid, who tell us that feces in our food is OK as long as it’s irradiated, that GMO food is safe but raw milk isn’t—these are the people in charge of our food?”
They’re also the people in charge of food labeling, and according to Salatin, the “organic” label just ain’t what it used to be.