Polyface Farm

A good article in USA Today on Joel Salatin's Polyface Farm in Swoope, Virginia. Salatin is a legend in the organic, sustainable farming community for his innovative methods. He farms mostly meat -- chickens, beef, rabbit, and pork -- but gets premium prices for it from restaurants and local customers because it tastes like its supposed to (grass fed, etc.). I'm not a fan of his raising animals in order to kill them, but he does it respectfully and humanely, giving the animals every benefit and pleasure they should have before their lights go out. The article is mainly about Salatin and Polyface Farm (view the photo gallery of pix from his farm), but it also has a sidebar on other farms around the country that are capitalizing on the agro-tourism business. Salatin has about 8,000 people a year visit his farm from all over the world to learn his methods, some of whom pay $1,000 for a one-on-one day with Salatin. The article gives good insight into how hungry (pardon the pun) people are to know more about food and how they can reconnect with it at the source.

Joel Salatin has written a half-dozen books on sustainable farm practices, including those on his own farm. You can view all-things-Salatin at Amazon here.