Celebration! At PolyfaceSaturday, September 7, 2013 | Polyface Farm | Swoope, Virginia |
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Premium Upgrade: Breakfast, 2.5-Hour Haywagon Tour and Farmstead Lunch: 8:30 am – 2:30 pm |
Learn the Basics: Next Gen Walking Tour and Farmstead Lunch: 10:30 am – 2:30 pm |
Our Hosts
THE POLYFACE FAMILY
Joel Salatin is a full-time farmer in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. A third generation alternative farmer, he returned to the farm full-time in 1982 and is continuously refining and adding to his parents’ ideas.
His mother Lucille, wife Teresa, daughter Rachel, son Daniel, daughter-in-law Sheri, grandsons Travis and Andrew, and granddaughter Lauryn, work together full-time on the family farm and are our gracious hosts for this event.
ABOUT POLYFACE FARM
Polyface Farm (The Farm of Many Faces) in Swoope, Virginia is a family-owned, multigenerational, pasture-based, beyond organic, local-market farm and informational outreach in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.
The farm services more than 3,000 families, 10 retail outlets, and 50 restaurants through on-farm sales and metropolitan buying clubs.
The farm’s products include: Salad Bar Beef, Pastured Poultry, Pigaerator Pork, Forage-Based Rabbits and Forestry Products.
Polyface has been featured in Smithsonian magazine, National Geographic, Gourmet and countless other radio, television and print media. Profiled on the Lives of the 21st Century series with Peter Jennings on ABC World News, his after-broadcast chat room fielded more hits than any other segment to date. The farm achieved iconic status as the grass farm featured in the New York Times bestseller Omnivore’s Dilemma by food writer Michael Pollan.
ABOUT JOEL
Joel holds a BA degree in English and writes extensively in magazines such as Stockman Grass Farmer, ACRES USA, and American Agriculturalist.
A prolific writer, Joel has produced eight books, which can be found on the bookshelves of small farms across America. The titles include: Folks, This Ain’t Normal; Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal; Salad Bar Beef; Holy Cows & Hog Heaven; You Can Farm; Family Friendly Farming; The Sheer Ecstasy of Being a Lunatic Farmer; and Pastured Poultry Profits.
The sound principles and innovations he has showcased at Polyface have been featured in films such as Food Inc., Fresh, Farmageddon, and most recently American Meat.
Joel is also a sought-after conference speaker and columnist, who describes his occupation as “mob-stocking herbivorous solar conversion lignified carbon sequestration fertilization.” His humorous and conviction-based speeches are akin to theatrical performances, often receiving standing ovations.
He passionately defends small farms, local food systems, and the right to opt out of the conventional food paradigm. He’s a founding member of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund.