Interview with Joel Salatin

A discussion of slaughter and processing policies.

My wife Jackie and I recently joined Joel Salatin and Dr. Sina McCullough and others for a two-day schedule of diverse speakers at Polyface Farms in Swoope, Virginia. Following the day’s events on Saturday, Jackie and I joined Joel and his delightful wife Teresa for leftover Polyface chicken and broccoli salad, accompanied by a quart of strange, blue berries.

Although they resembled regular blueberries in color and skin texture, these odd fruits were elongated and flattened, and tasted quite different than blueberries. Joel explained that a Canadian couple who attended the Two Days of Truth summit had brought them, but he couldn’t remember what they were called. Teresa was of rather strong opinion that the flat, dark-blue berries reminded her of leeches—not elongated leeches, but contracted, scrunched-up ones. (Fortunately, Teresa did not share this image until after we had all sampled the alien blue fruits.) 

None of us had ever seen this odd berry. In researching them upon returning home, I suspect the unnamed berry we consumed was a haskap, described in flavor by one source as “Imagine a grape/raspberry/blueberry or a raspberry/blueberry/black currant all mashed together, with a zingy finish, and you are on the right track.” That matches up very well to what we ate, sans leech analogies. 

After dinner, Joel politely agreed to the audio interview incorporated in this newsletter. 

As background, Joel and I became acquainted in 2016, when I defied Vermont legislators who sought to prohibit all on farm slaughter. Joel had encountered a similar dispute in Virginia years previously, and tells the story of his own battle in Everything I Want to Do is Illegal War Stories from the Local Food Front.

And so in our interview on June 24 I asked Joel to provide an overview of custom slaughter laws and their current status, particularly with regard to recent efforts to enact the PRIME Act. The PRIME Act is federal legislation which would legalize the custom processing and sale of individual meat cuts to individuals and businesses within each state’s boundaries (intrastate commerce). Joel recently testified before the United States Congress regarding the PRIME Act, and I asked him to share his take on where that legislation is headed this session.

Closing out our time together, Joel shared his passion for the subject of his upcoming book, Homestead Tsunami: Good for our Country, Critters and Kids. Joel discusses “why this urban to rural migration is happening,” and other glimpses into Homestead Tsunami, in the attached audio recording.

Thanks for reading Small Farm Republic. You can learn a great deal quickly from Joel Salatin in this interview. His many books addressing food and farming are available directly from his Polyface Store: POLYFACE LIBRARY (ecwid.com)

Joel’s fantastic presentation before Congress: Joel Salatin: Opening Testimony at the Congressional Judiciary Committee - YouTube

Joel’s newsletter, Musings From the Lunatic Farmer: The Lunatic Farmer

Joel’s written testimony before Congress June 13: salatin-testimony.pdf (house.gov)

Beyond Labels podcast: Beyond Labels Clips on Apple Podcasts

Polyface Farm: Polyface Farm (polyfacefarms.com)

The Stockman Grass Farmer: Stockman Grass Farmer - The Grazier's Edge - Ridgeland, MS