After I picked up my registration packet, I headed into the college’s cavernous auditorium. To my surprise, it was already stuffed to the brim. People of all ages were eagerly awaited to hear one of the nation’s most famous farmers, Joel Salatin. As I squeezed into one of the last remaining seats, Joel began to talk. In front of an astounding audience of 500, Joel described himself as being in the “redemption business: healing the land, healing the food, healing the economy, and healing the culture.” Owner of a 550 acre “beyond organic” family farm in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, Joel has become one of the nation’s greatest spokesmen for healthy food and healthy farms. With the crowd pressed to the edge of their seats, Joel fervently addressed the food crisis we’ve gotten ourselves into through commercialized, large-scale farming. By growing food on a small scale, mimicking nature, and focusing on soil health, farming no longer has to be “dirty” – it can actually improve the environment and improve the body and soul. At the end of the hour, Joel let out his final battlecry, “Don’t deny ME, the right to choose healthy, REAL food!” as the impassioned audience clapped in standing ovation.
Photo: Done right, farming can actually improve the soil. Riverhead
Clapping amongst a crowd of 500 in one of the nation’s most populous and wealthiest counties, it was in that moment that I realized demand for healthy food and farming has truly swelled and morphed into a full-fledged national food movement. In my wildest dreams, I never thought a southern cattle rancher would EVER command such a huge audience, especially in a place less than 15 miles from the NYC border! Likewise, I never would have thought my 23 year old cousin from Brooklyn would help create an urban farm upstate.
One of the reasons for the momentum of the food movement is that it has become all-inclusive – something that every individual can rally behind. You don’t need a toothpick, a straw hat, and a shotgun to be involved in this new-age farming. Nor do you need dreadlocks, a tie-dye shirt, and Birkenstocks. The food movement is a new back-to-the-land movement that demands everyone have access to local food, non-processed food, fresh food. It is a movement that demands access to food that doesn’t cause diabetes or obesity in our children or cancer in adults. It is a movement that demands access to food that doesn’t wreck havoc on our environment or on our local economy. In essence, it is a movement that demands for food to be held accountable.
Photo: Suffolk County's small farm vegetables and fruits can be found at farmer's markets throughout Long Island and New York City
In his lecture, Joel Salatin envisioned a world where every parcel of unused space is used for farming. In this utopian world, along roadways, in parks, and in backyards, the earth would be teeming with life, giving forth bountiful harvests of fruits and vegetables. While hoeing alongside the LIE might not be the most practical idea for obvious reasons, backyard farming is certainly gaining hold. According to a recent survey conducted by the American Society of Landscape Architects, over 80% of residential landscape architects reported that their clients were interested in food or vegetable gardens (including orchards, vineyards, etc.). Additionally, nearly one in five landscape architects reported that they are replacing part or all of traditional grass lawns with food or vegetable gardens.*
Photo: An edible garden display. Hicks Nurseries, Westbury
What we are witnessing is a food revolution before our very eyes. In truth, we can all be farmers. Perhaps even some of those Long Island Gold Coast mansions now have their own vegetable gardens (maintained by the gardener of course : ) )
*Source: http://www.asla.org/land/LandArticle.aspx?id=30853
