What I'm Reading: Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal

What I’m Reading: Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal

Scott Kustes on 01 Apr 2008 08:00 am

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Table of contents for Book Reviews - 2008

I finished Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal by Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm fame this past weekend. In this book, Salatin talks through all of the myriad government regulations standing in the way of building a truly burgeoning local food economy. He runs through loads of stories about government bureaucrats coming onto his farm and telling him of all the illegal things he’s doing. The most amusingly scary part is that interpretations of the regulations change with each personal change in the government. What was just fine under one official was no longer fine when the next guy took over. The new official even said, “well I’m changing the interpretation of the rule.”

Another scarily amusing part is that there are truly no objective standards for cleanliness. For instance, he had his chickens swab tested and had two supermarket chickens swab tested. His came back 25 times cleaner than the supermarket chickens, yet the bureaucrats tell him that his chicken is unclean because of how his processing facility is setup. It’s all subjective. It’s whatever the government determines is clean and it’s hard not to read this book and get the impression that all of the regulations are intended to “level the playing field” in favor of the large corporations.

And some of the regulations are just downright stupid. Did you know that you can’t build a house on a farm smaller than 900 square feet? They tried to build a small, 720 sq. ft. house for his son and daughter-in-law, but couldn’t get permits for it because it was too small. Oh, and no composting toilets either. He can’t offer paid tours to get people acquainted with farm life and help communities stay in touch with nature because that makes Polyface an amusement park, but he can offer unpaid tours. He can’t sell vegetables grown by his neighbors in his farm store because that makes him a Wal-Mart. So much boils down to making money. It’s perfectly fine for him to give away certain things, but the moment he charges for it, it’s illegal. Why is that? It’s obviously not about food safety if things can be given away that can’t be sold.

Salatin rips into Democrats, Republicans, liberals, and conservatives alike. As he says, he has the ability to piss off everyone in the room all at one time. And I love it! Perhaps because I feel the same way most of the time. I enjoy that he doesn’t subscribe to a single school of thought, doesn’t follow any particular talking head. He’s truly a man that thinks for himself, and even in the areas that I disagree with him, I love that he’s arrived at his conclusions through his own experiences rather than through what other people tell him is the right way. At the risk of getting political here, too many people choose a side (i.e., “Democrat” or “Republican”) and then stick their heads in the sand regarding anything coming from the other side. I don’t get the impression that Mr. Salatin does this.

I love his conclusion that the best course of action is for the government to step back and allow its citizens to make choices for themselves. If what we truly value in this country is a “free market,” then we need to remove the regulations that keep that market from being truly free. There’s nothing wrong with large corporations, so long as it’s the public and the free market supporting them and not government subsidies and regulations that keep the small guys from having a chance. If irradiated food and genetically-modified food is what the public really wants, that food will stand on its own and these local markets will stay as the niches that they are. But I think the corporations really are scared of the consumers having the choice of where they get their food and how it’s raised. I also think the government really does think it needs to protect us from ourselves.

I give it a 10 (now anyone that’s seen Varsity Blues, feel free to run along with that quote in your head). While the book is really about the political climate in which the local farms operate, it’s important for those of us that are interested in having choice in our food to understand these regulations. Joel Salatin is intelligent and well-spoken, but writes in a very plain, easy-to-understand way. Definitely read this book.

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Tags: food, free market, government, Joel Salatin, Polyface, regulations

Filed in Eating Locally 14 Comments so far

14 Responses to “What I’m Reading: Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal”

Joe Matasic on 01 Apr 2008 at 8:22 am #

Great. It’s not the quote from Varsity Blues you put in my head, its the scene that led to the quote that you put in my head. Another one of those cheesy movies that I can’t help watching on crappy afternoons when its on. Luckily I can still do productive stuff on the laptop and not feel like I’m totally wasting time.

Joe
Bob on 01 Apr 2008 at 10:11 am #

One of the most radical things you can do is grow your own food. I’ll be planting a garden as soon as this darn snow melts. I also view working out, meditation, fighting cancer, and environmental activism as radical. I hope everyone has their own list of radical practices. If you’re looking for what to read next, I just finished “A New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle. Don’t let the fact that Oprah recommends it turn you away.
JRF on 01 Apr 2008 at 10:11 am #

“and it’s hard not to read this book and get the impression that all of the regulations are intended to “level the playing field” in favor of the large corporations.”

That’s probably because that’s exactly what is happening. Increasing barriers of entry into any arena is almost always good for the established players, even if it does increase their costs somewhat. And consequently you’ll see a lot of support for regulation to “protect consumers” from industry lobbyists, as long as it decreases their competition.

It probably also should be noted that capitalists tend to hate free markets whenever it applies to their products. And politicians aren’t exactly fond of them either, since it makes their job largely redundant.

Here’s an hour long discussion from econtalk on that precise subject: http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2007/01/bruce_yandle_on.html
Neal W. on 01 Apr 2008 at 11:36 am #

Sorry, but you have royally pissed off both Democrats and Republicans with that free market spiel. Both sides are avid haters of the free market. Democrats prefer socialism, and Republicans prefer fascism.

JRF, is correct. Big corporations love regulations because it keeps competition out, that’s why they lobby for them. Politicians hate the free market because then they can’t justify their existence.
Jay on 01 Apr 2008 at 12:57 pm #

Hey Scott;
Reading Joel’s Hog Heaven/Holy Cow, which was given to me by Moses Miller, an Amish farmer that went to visit Joel’s farm last year. He is now raising GF Beef, offering Raw Milk, Cheese, Butter and great eggs.

Consider in the future plugging Joel’s Open House in July.
Anna on 01 Apr 2008 at 1:25 pm #

Glad to see another hail of praise for this book. I agree totally. I think many folks are becoming clued in to important food issues, but even so, they rarely get an “insiders” view from the small producer’s side. They still often view alternative food sources through a “grocery store lens”. Salatin provides an another perspective in a way that even citified, agriculturally-uninformed types who call soil “dirt” can understand.
Richard Nikoley on 01 Apr 2008 at 3:05 pm #

Here’s an article by Salatin that summarizes much of the book:

http://www.acresusa.com/toolbox/reprints/Salatin_Sept03.pdf
Scott Kustes on 02 Apr 2008 at 8:24 am #

Bob, JRF, Neal, right on. You are exactly right that the regulations are set in favor of the companies.

Jay, I read Holy Cows and Hog Heaven also. Review coming up next week.

Richard, thanks for the article. That’s a good distillation of the book right there for those without time to read it.

Cheers All
Scott
Terry on 03 Apr 2008 at 4:20 pm #

This excess gov’t contol & regulation is the very reason our gasoline prices have risen so high. Instead of encouraging the development of greater supply (thus lowering the market price) gov’t provides barriers to exploration, drilling & refining. These barriers serve to drive up the price by artificially restricting growth in supply in the face of rapidly increasing demand. This provides a platform for ruthless politicians (who caused the problem in the first place)to demagogue the issue.

Compare & contrast the recent history of retail prices in the computer industry where there are low barriers to production(rapidly increasing demand & rapidly increasing supply) vs the oil & gas industry (rapidly increasing demand & government mandated static supply). The reason for the increase in oil & gas prices becomes abundantly clear.
Anna on 04 Apr 2008 at 4:29 pm #

Like food, a lot of the “cost” of the computer industry is not reflected in the cash register price. The constantly changing computer industry creates an ever increasing waste stream of obsolete equipment, old cds, old inkjet and laser printer cartidges, packaging, as well as an increased drain on energy consumption in the home and business.

I’d like to see the taxes on fuel raised substantially to fund better public transport, better maintenance of the roads we have, conversion of fuel wasting 4-way stops and signal-controlled intersections to roundabouts, research into alternative transport, incentives for folks to choose less energy intensive transport, better planning for public transport in new neighborhoods, etc. Right now American car users do not pay the real cost of operating a car for personal transport. If everyday folks in Europe can afford to pay about $80+ to fill the tank of a VW Golf-sized car, then everyday Americans probably can, too.
Terry on 04 Apr 2008 at 11:05 pm #

Anna Says:

April 4th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
“Like food, a lot of the “cost” of the computer industry is not reflected in the cash register price. The constantly changing computer industry creates an ever increasing waste stream of obsolete equipment, old cds, old inkjet and laser printer cartidges, packaging, as well as an increased drain on energy consumption in the home and business.

I’d like to see the taxes on fuel raised substantially to fund better public transport, If everyday folks in Europe can afford to pay about $80+ to fill the tank of a VW Golf-sized car, then everyday Americans probably can, too.

Anna

I agree about the roundabouts.

However your other points (higher fuel taxes, increased public transportation, & $80 fill ups) are all seriously misguided.

Our country (the USA) was founded on individual liberty & your ill advised prescriptions run contra to that liberty.

The very essence of freedom is the ability (physically & economically) to move from point A to point B when one so desires. This is one of the great keys to our countries great economic success (as well as our own personal happiness & satisfaction).

If our society moves from personal to public transportation our physical movement is constrained & restricted to the times & destinations of the bureaucratically determined SCHEDULE. (The bus may not go to Grandma’s house at 2:00PM Sunday)

As to higher fuel taxes, they would only serve to confiscate hard earned $’s from the pockets of the citizenry further (this time economically) restricting freedom.

Freedom has served our country well, better in fact then any other societal blueprint in the history of mankind. When searching for prescriptions for societal ills, seek solutions that provide more, not less, individual freedom.
Anna on 05 Apr 2008 at 11:44 am #

Terry said:
“The very essence of freedom is the ability (physically & economically) to move from point A to point B when one so desires. This is one of the great keys to our countries great economic success (as well as our own personal happiness & satisfaction).”

Well, I would argue that additionally, one of the “great keys” to to our country’s “success” also involved killing off and pushing out the native population and “transporting” ourselves onto their land, but that’s another issue altogether.

“It’s not your car, it’s your freedom”. Interesting advertising phrase that has stuck in my mind for a long time, probably since before I even was a driver. Yes and no. I also call my car “my slave master”. It demands a lot of me and us.

I live in So California now, but I grew up and went to college in the Northeast, then lived ten years in the Southeast of the US. In the past nearly 30 years (since age 18) I’ve also traveled to about 20 countries in Europe, North & South America, and Austral-Asia, on my own, as a couple, and now as a family. Next year we plan to go to Africa. In other words, we get around, using both private and public transport. I don’t claim to be an expert on transportation or national policies or even US history, but my experience has taught me to put high value on publicly funded, well-designed transportation systems.

Now living in So California for 12 years, I also know what it is like to be just about completely dependent on a personal automobile, because the public transport options here are minimal. Relying on personal automobiles for transportation isn’t always “freedom”. It can also be “slavery to a system of perceived personal freedom”, especially in densely populated areas and suburban communities.

I was reminded of that this week when one of our cars was in the repair shop a few days. My husband was able to take a bus to work the day he dropped it off for fixing, but he “needed” our other car for the remaining days. The skimpy bus service we used to have no longer goes through our neighborhood so I was on my own for transportation. Our suburban community doesn’t even have a local taxi service. I definitely didn’t feel “free”, even as I negotiated my way to do some grocery shopping for essentials with my bike and the nifty pannier shopping baskets I brought back from France, “sharing the road” with ridiculously large urban assault vehicles with one passenger each (how many kilocalories of energy to move one heavy vehicle and one person?). And that’s not even counting the “slavery” to working to pay for the car and the maintenance.

One way or another, if we want to get around by any other way other than walking, we have to find a way to do it with cooperation with others. Even in the US, we don’t get around by ourselves. Single passenger-occupied cars are just the net result of our cooperation. Our collective tax dollars already to go to support our system of “personal transport” and we’re not doing so well with it. No one could use a car completely on their own, without infrastructure, so it is an illusion that spending our collective tax funds on roads for cars is different than spending collective tax funds on mass transit (unless you want to pay tolls on every street and road). If you want to argue about paying taxes at all, then it might mean going back to walking and being a slave to your horse and buggy (which is much like being a slave to a car) and paying the highway toll for roads developed by private enterprise.

Of all the “socialist” programs of the countries I have visited, the investment in public transport is probably the one I would like to see adopted more often here in the US. The US feels like a third world country sometimes when I think about our transportation options. When done well, mass transit really works to move people, both short and long distances. I really appreciate the “freedom” to move around without a car. We have stayed with friends in many places where one relatively basic car suffices for a family for out-of-town excursions and occasional shopping trips for bulky items because every member of the family can easily walk a few minutes to the train station and be whisked into the city to work or school in a matter of minutes, with no car to park, gas up, or creep through traffic. Bikes can even go on buses or trains for further connections.

Freedom is in the eye of the beholder, I guess.
Terry on 06 Apr 2008 at 10:43 am #

Anna Says:
April 5th, 2008 at 11:44 am

“Freedom is in the eye of the beholder, I guess.”

Well I start from the controlling principle that the individual is supreme (as did our founders). I then considerr whether a given law/public policy gives the individual more or less freedom (freedom being the God given natural state of man).

From there it’s quite simple. Any law that reduces my freedom, be it economically (confiscates my money so I have fewer economic choices), spiritually, physically, or any other way, is by definition bad for me & society as a whole.

The evidence of the correctness of this is manifest both from my personal exerience as well as in the macro sense [one need only compare & contrast the success of highly controlled societies (Cuba, former Soviet Union) with a relatively free society (USA)].
Scott Kustes on 08 Apr 2008 at 8:35 am #

Nice discussion Terry and Anna…and thanks for keeping it civil. I think you’re both aiming down the right track…with Anna, I agree that there needs to be more consideration for public transportation from the tax money that we pay, rather than corporate welfare and government subsidies of commodities. From Terry’s side, I’m all about lower taxes, which means fewer social programs. We could get by with much lower taxes if the people we “entrust” to spend our tax dollars would spend it prudently.

And it’s certainly true that freedom is in the eye of the beholder.

Cheers
Scott

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