{"product_id":"the-sheer-ecstasy-of-being-a-lunatic-farmer","title":"The Sheer Ecstasy of Being a Lunatic Farmer","description":"\u003cp\u003eFoodies and environmentally minded folks often struggle to understand and articulate the fundamental differences between the farming and food systems they endorse and those promoted by Monsanto and friends. With visceral stories and humor from Salatins half-century as a \"lunatic\" farmer  Salatin contrasts the differences on many levels: practical  spiritual  social  economic  ecological  political  and nutritional.  In todays conventional food-production paradigm  any farm that is open-sourced  compost-fertilized  pasture-based  portably-infrastructured  solar-driven  multi-speciated  heavily peopled  and soil-building must be operated by a lunatic. Modern  normal  reasonable farmers erect \"No Trespassing\" signs  deplete soil  worship annuals  apply petroleum-based chemicals  produce only one commodity  erect Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations  and discourage young people from farming.  Anyone looking for ammunition to defend a more localized  solar-driven  diversified food system will find an entire arsenal in these pages. With wit and humor honed during countless hours working on the farm he loves  and then interacting with conventional naysayers  Salatin brings the land to life  farming to sacredness  and food to ministry.  Divided into four main sections  the first deals with principles to nurture the earth  an idea mainline farming has never really endorsed. The second section describes food and fiber production  including the notion that most farmers dont care about nutrient density or taste because all they want is shipability and volume. The third section  titled \"Respect for Life \" presents an apologetic for food sacredness and farming as a healing ministry. Only lunatics would want less machinery and pathogenicity. Oh  the ecstasy of not using drugs or paying bankers. How sad. The final section deals with promoting community  including the notion that more farmers would be a good thing.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44945462951989,"sku":"ByrdShop_0963810960","price":32.24,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780963810960.jpg?v=1769889996","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-sheer-ecstasy-of-being-a-lunatic-farmer","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}