Joel Salatin

Salatin Calls for Food Integration

Ever since farms became dependant on petroleum, Joel Salatin of Polyface farm said the U.S. food system has become segregated.

On June 2, 2012, the Bainbridge community-based organization Friends of the Farm helped bring Salatin to Bainbridge, WA, for the day. After speaking at a luncheon benefit for the 16-acre Manzanita Farm, Salatin spoke at the Bainbridge Performing Arts Theater to a packed theater of farmers and farm enthusiasts.  

“Now we have a food system floating precariously on a barrel of oil,” Salatin said. “We need to see integrated systems.”

For example, he suggested people living in apartments should throw out their aquariums and put in a chicken pen instead. 

Furthermore, he said he notices people’s kitchen waste is taken to the landfill instead of being recycled back into feeding chickens.

Salatin speaks to farmers at an intimate gathering 

at Suyematsu/Bentryn Family Farm in the evening of June 2. 

Instead, he wants to see people feeding their chickens that food waste, who in turn would turn that waste into manure that then would fertilize their gardens. And then the chickens would lay eggs that would cycle back into the kitchen. This kind of system that cuts out the petrol that it takes to transport waste to the landfill and grain to the farm for feed, Salatin said.

But it goes beyond the use of petroleum on farms. He explained how cheap energy and transportation has allowed the majority of people in this country not to think about their food system. Right now, for example Salatin said, there are twice as many people in prison than there are farming. He said, “we are functionally divorced” from the food system.

It sounds like a ripple effect. Salatin said if food waste is used to feed animals, then the grain input would go down, and so petroleum input would go down accordingly.

He said rather using petroleum like “drunken sailors” in the here and now, we should make our systems more efficient and save the petroleum for other, more important things.    

Ag days unfurl at the University of Idaho

Agriculture days, or ‘Ag days,’ has been around for about 20 to 30 years, originally started to be a homecoming for alumni from the College of Agriculture. Ag days run from Oct. 2-3.

John Foltz, the Associate Dean and Director of Academic Programs, said they’ve always had a livestock judging at the livestock pavilion and barbeque for perspective students. Also they have had other current student activities like a softball tournament the Thursday before, Oct. 1.

Foltz said a couple of years ago they decided to turn it into a two night affair for mainly recruitment to get new and perspective students on campus.

Rachel Halsey, assistant director for college recruitment said, “There are lots of opportunities…to give them a chance to see what it feels like to be a college student.”

There are ten blocks of topics with three classes in each that high school students from around the Pacific Northwest can choose from Friday. To participate the student gets to choose between three packages with varying benefits for $50, $80 and a simply “everything” plan for $100.

Then there is a barbeque put on by a couple of fraternities and a sorority for only the perspective students and their teachers. After that there is a Casino night for students, who will get about $200 of play money. Some prizes include a $10 gift certificate to Starbucks.

At the same time as the Casino game night, Halsey said there will be major fair. Each student will receive a ‘passport’ to go around to different booths gathering information about different majors and organizations on campus. Also they get their ‘passport’ stamped.

Perspective students will spend the rest of the evening at late night at the REC.

The next morning they’ll have options to do either of three things. First is livestock judging or learning about the University’s dairy operation. Second, is working in the family consumers sciences, and thirdly is the life science track.

In the afternoon they can either go swimming, watch a movie or do a scavenger hunt which Halsey said “basically giving them a campus tour” and also some fun facts about campus buildings.

Andrew Brewick, assistant director of advising and retention, said there is a barbeque from 5-7 p.m., open to everyone, but non-perspective students must pay, $10 for adults and $7 for students. Foltz said they were expecting about 600 people. This barbeque will be held outside the Dom of the University.

Then students can watch the football game with kick off starting around 7:30 p.m. After the game Foltz said the students get to go back to the REC center for games and sporting activities until 1-2 a.m.

Halsey said “for perspective students we try and make it fun, educational and inexpensive.”

Compared to past years the crowds will be a little smaller. Just last year there was 300 perspective students, and this year only 200 are coming. Foltz said this had to do with school budgets and Halsey also said lots of the bigger schools only come every other year, and she said that was last year.

On Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Brewick said the Agriculture Student Affairs Council hosts a food fair for alumni and current students. Outside the Ag Science building clubs pitched tents and sold food to passersby.

There was also a chili bake-off.

At 3 p.m. there was a co-ed softball tournament with 10 teams out at Joseph’s field by the fairgrounds in Moscow, Idaho.