Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Joel Salatin is, if nothing else, passionate and it rings through on every page of this book. If you are picking this up, it is probably because you have heard of Salatin through Slow Food or the Omnivores Dilemma, and Salatin is absolutely the pioneer of sustainable farming that you have heard he is, which is what makes this book so disappointing. This book is 25% discussion about farming and the challenges that the government bogs the small farmer down with and 75% libertarian ranting. Regardless of whether or not you agree with Salatins opinion on abortion, vegetarianism, public land or God, if you came here looking for a book that will share the story of the struggling small time farmer, you came to the wrong book. Don't get me wrong, there are stories in here about the absurd regulations that the government imposes, and you will definitely want to see the small farmer freed from the regulations that the big guys are held to, but you will also spend a great deal of time reading what basically boils down to the libertarian party philosophy. Salatin not only wants the government out of small farming, but all business. He wants the government out of public land, protecting species, education, and he wants the government in to enforcing the Ten Commandments as law. For me, it was incredibly distracting and completely irrelevant. I want to learn about War Stories From the Local Food Front. I don't feel that this book delivered on that promise nearly as well as it could have. An author is able to write about whatever it is they desire, but one would hope that they would focus on the topic of their book. Salatin does not. For some people, no big deal. For me, I ended up putting the book away after having read 2/3rds of it because I simply couldn't take any more ranting. If you want to learn about sustainable farming, pick up Salatin's "You Can Farm." I would not recommend this one to the average reader unless they are prepared for what lies ahead - a lot of rant and a little information.