10 Inspirational Joel Salatin Quotes on Farming and Food.

When my husband and I started on our homesteading journey, it really began after seeing the movie Food Inc. What we saw in that documentary really hit home. It changed the way we, as a couple, thought about our food and how we wanted to feed our family.

For me, it started a journey of discovery of what we could do to change the way we eat and how we grow and get our food. Of course, if you have seen the movie, you know there is a farmer who shares the way he and his family farm and that farmer was, of course, Joel Salatin. When I started reading books on farming and gardening and homesteading, I came across several of his books. The first one I read was Family Friendly Farming and, like many people, I became captivated by what this man had to say about our food system.

Anyways, here I have compiled 10 of my favorite Joel Salatin quotes. Enjoy!

“If you think organic food is expensive, have you priced cancer recently?”

Concise and thought provoking, no?

“Don’t you find it odd that people will put more work into choosing their mechanic or house contractor than they will into choosing the person who grows their food?”

It is odd that we put more thought into these things that we need occasionally, rather than the thing we do several times a day.

“The shorter the chain between raw food and fork the fresher it is and the more transparent the system is”

Have you been face to face with the farmer who grows your food?  Do you grow your food yourself? I know I love knowing where our food has come from.

“You, as a food consumer, have the privilege of actively participating in shaping the world your children will inherit”

This is so true in so many ways.

” Get in your kitchen, buy unprocessed foods, turn off the TV, and prepare your own foods. This is liberating.”

I know I feel super accomplished and satisfied when I make something from scratch especially when I’ve grown it myself or I know the farmer I have gotten it from.

“The person who does the cooking should never be the person who has to clean up!”

Here, Here!! I agree with this completely (that might have something to do with the fact that I do 99% of the cooking!)

“The first supermarket supposedly appeared on the American landscape in 1946…. Until then, where was all the food? Dear folks, the food was in homes, gardens, local fields, and forests. It was near kitchens, near tables, near bedsides. It was in the pantry, the cellar, the backyard.”

This is something that we have been working on keeping in mind when shopping for food. To not buy anything our great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food. (Side-note: I have a great grandmother who is turning 105 very soon!)

“The average person is still under the aberrant delusion that food should be somebody else’s responsibility until I’m ready to eat it.”

We should all be responsible for at least part of what we eat. Even if you have a small yard or even just a patio you can still grow a little of your own food.

“If it doesn’t rot, it’s not real food.”

Amen.

“Amazingly, we’ve become a culture that considers Twinkies, Cocoa Puffs, and Mountain Dew safe, but raw milk and compost-grown tomatoes unsafe”

This is so true and yet so ridiculous. We have to teach our kids and future generations that it’s the other way around and not to be so afraid of a little dirt on our food or”imperfect” looking tomatoes.