Joel Salatin wasn't kidding when he subtitled his book "War Stories from the Local Food Front." Halfway through the book and I'm already shocked and disgusted by all the bureaucratic bullshit involved with the legal/illegal side of farming. I don't know why I've never been more aware of all the ridiculous and unfair laws and regulations set forth by the government - I mean, I've definitely watched as our own farm encountered its own share of government annoyances, but never so devastating or infuriating as the horror stories Salatin speaks of.
Salatin's got some especially unfortunate experiences about dairy farms. I couldn't help but relate, just a little bit. The most frequently asked question I get at farmers market (after, of course, "Can you really milk a goat?" and "Do you have to kill the goat to get the cheese?") is "Is your cheese made from raw milk?" There are two different groups of people who ask this: the ones who are hoping that the answer is yes, and the ones who will cringe if the answer is anything but "of course not!" The first group consists of the children of the farmstand cheese movement and the cross-cultural types who have tasted the wonders of raw milk cheese in Italy and France. The latter group consists of the people who worship USDA regulations and trust the government wholeheartedly.
Anyway, the answer I always have to give is "By law, any cheese made in the US has to be pasteurized if aged under 60 days." This usually generate blank looks, so I then point out the hard cheeses, made from raw milk, and aged for more than 60 days, and then sweep my arm over the soft cheeses, the fresh ones made from pasteurized milk. You know what, though? No one ever asks me why we can't make raw milk cheese unless it's been aged for x amount of time. I highly doubt that this is because our customers don't want to bother us vendors with nitty gritty questions. No, I suspect its probably because of the the concept that Salatin references: "the government-can-fix-it mentality." Government says this is the way it's gotta be, okey dokey - they must just be looking out for us.
Hah.
Salatin has this great analogy to describe the arbitrariness of the licensing process. He creates a little story about what it might be like to try to get a license to have an active account on eBay - something everyone's familiar with. Some of the requirements would include: a license proving that you are qualified to operate your computer; fire marshall license proving that your computer cords are up to date; proof of building inspection so the structural soundness of the desk on which you computer sits is acceptable; government labeling verification that your description of the item you are selling is accurate... and so on and so forth. I thought this was a humorous and creative analogy to convey how ridiculous the bureaucratic element of farming is.
Salatin keeps reminding us of the "ends justify the means" idea. He says, if he is able to provide a safe, clean, healthy, nutritious, and good-tasting product in the end, who the hell cares what his infrastructure is? Why should he have to adhere to all this government regulation crap if, in the end, he puts forth a superior product. Salatin had an apprentice who was also conveniently a biology major compare one of his chickens to an industrially-produced chicken in terms of potentially harmful pathogens. Turns out, his chickens were 25 times cleaner than generic supermarket chicken. There is solid, scientific proof - and yet, USDA officials still give him crap about his wall-less poultry slaughtering facility - "unsanitary and adulterated." Geeze.
You go girl.
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