We've had enough of this already!
"After writing 'Everything I do is illegal,' I hoped it would spark a storm of protests; that people would rise up and shout: This must change! It can't go on like this..."
"That did not happen. Societies wake up, yes, but usually when it’s too late. A decade after the publication of the book, I see that the situation has not improved at all. The population is even more afraid of freedom and desires even more for the government to protect them from any possible discomfort and decide everything for them."
"For example, in the USA, the Food Safety Modernization Act; volumes and tons of new regulations that prevent small farmers from operating. Regardless of size, a farm that employs a worker must provide a permanent toilet at the workplace. It doesn't matter whether the area of operation is one acre or hundreds of acres.""1""Every employee has the right to a separate toilet. It must be next to the farmer's house. An employee cannot be allowed to use their employer's toilet."
"Why? No one knows! In the case of a large farm, the costs of building such a bathroom are spread over many acres, but if the farm is small, such a forced investment can lead the farmer to... bankruptcy. What is merely an inconvenience for a large farm is a catastrophe for a smaller producer!"
"As the government increasingly distances itself from the citizen it is supposedly meant to serve, the only thing that flourishes and expands - besides an atmosphere of distrust, irregularities, and inefficiency - is soulless bureaucracy."
"Inept governments and societies resort to multiplying regulations because they cannot solve economic problems. They cannot deal with crime, poor education, or improve healthcare, so they create rules and regulations that they call laws. Then bureaucrats feel needed, important, and useful. They appear to care about people's needs; attention to detail is a sign of their concern! Isn’t this throwing the baby out with the bathwater? Doesn’t it kill innovation and entrepreneurship?"
"Another example: during the lockdown in 2020, the government closed markets and agricultural fairs, but liquor stores and supermarkets operated without restrictions. Recognizing some of us as 'essential' and others as 'non-essential' made millions of Americans feel unnecessary, unwanted, and marginalized. Half the population was excluded, stripped of work, and disregarded."
"Children could not go to school. Loved ones were not allowed to visit family members in hospitals or care facilities. Millions of chickens and pigs were killed and thrown away because processing plants could not convert them into food."
"For years since writing this book, I have watched in horror as conspiracies and intrigues become the norm enforced by the World Economic Forum's agendas. The idea that we will track and surveil: every square meter of land, every tomato, every cow, or even chicken is shocking. Global surveillance is to include our homes, yards, parks, schools, tables, and even pots. Nothing is private; nothing is sacred; nothing is free."
"And yet people find ways to circumvent it. So it is possible!"
"A bright light in my life became organizing the RFC, or Rogue Food Conference, in the United States.""2""My friend John Moody and I convened the first such gathering in the spring of 2020, just before COVID appeared. Since then, two conferences are held each year, and their momentum is growing."
"Our slogan is 'Better to circumvent them than to be subjected to them' – this mandate refers to regulations. Circumvent at all costs, do not let oneself be forced to comply."
"The idea of this initiative is based on the observation that there are many kinds of transactions, operations, transfers, or acquisitions that do not fit the definition of 'sale.' This is the rationale for the existence of a private membership association, which in modern United States serves as an alternative to traditional shopping. The largest such initiative is the Food Church in North Carolina. Many states allow farmers to sell animal feed labeled 'not for human consumption.' Do you feel that? In Florida, foodies say: 'We know that if you want something really tasty, reach for pet food.'"
"Another option has become online courses with a meal that is part of free training materials. In a $300 butchery course, part of the curriculum is a free package of meat. You sell information while giving away food. Training materials are delivered right to your door."
Another colleague made an agreement with his contractors to sell them a live animal; he keeps the entrails for himself, while they only get the meat. As a result of the agreement, he takes the entrails for himself and gives the meat to the one who bought the animal. This is called "live animal"! It is a clever, legal way to circumvent regulations. Tyranny is on the rise, so circumventing the law becomes a necessity.
Entrepreneurs spend countless hours and money learning how to comply with licenses and absurd regulations. If this effort were invested in circumventing them, we would have more entrepreneurial options and tasty, affordable food.
The question I ask myself in this context is: who owns me? Who is the owner of my person?
If the government decides my food, and at the same time I have no freedom to choose it, we are dealing with tyranny and slavery.
When the global/governmental noose tightens around our necks, people ask how to disconnect from it. When our food system is hijacked by the agenda of the World Economic Forum and individuals like Bill Gates, who declare a desire to exterminate two-thirds of humanity, we already know that things are not going in a good direction.
That is why we feel it is our duty to insist on creating a parallel universe where we have the right to choose what we want to eat.
As adults and free individuals, we have the right to opt out of such a system. And to step away from the burdened with preservatives and chemicals vile agencies of the agricultural-industrial complex.
And demand from the government and its oversight a solution based on freedom of choice. For freedom.3!
Joel Salatin,
Swoope, Virginia
May 2024
1An acre is about 4050 square meters.
2This can be translated to: Uncontrolled Food Conference, or the Bad Food Conference.
3After all, even during the oppressive and poor times of the People's Republic of Poland, rural grandmothers and Gypsies came to our offices, homes, or even schools with veal, lamb, milk straight from the cow, or homemade sausage, which not only added culinary color to our households but were primarily a breath of freedom from long queues, the rudeness of saleswomen, and the omnipresent, humiliating poverty.