Joel Salatin speaks at UNC about organic and sustainable foods

Several hundred people ate up every word Joel Salatin had to say about organic and sustainable foods Wednesday night.

Salatin, owner and operator of Polyface Farms in Swoope, Va., sought to dispel several common misconceptions about such food in a packed Hanes Art Center Auditorium.

One of Salatin’s main points was that hunger largely results from inefficient systems — not from an actual lack of food.

“Fifty percent of all the human edible food in the world never gets eaten,” he said.

“No one goes hungry because there is not enough food. They go hungry because of bad distribution.”

Freshman Jessica Smith said this problem is something that needs to be addressed.

“We need to work on getting our priorities in order and using our resources more wisely,” she said.

Building on his other points, Salatin sought to disprove the idea that everyone in the world cannot be fed, offering the U.S. as one example:

“We have 35 million acres of lawn in the U.S. and 36 million acres of land for feeding and housing recreational horses,” he said.

“That 71 million acres is enough to feed the entire nation without a single farm.”

He also listed off several food safety misconceptions, including the idea that food gets safer the more it is packaged and processed.

“I’m all about eating unprocessed food,” he said.

Another misconception was that the government is always right about whether a food is safe or not.

“If we assume anything that has a government stamp on it is safe, we are being ignorant about food,” he said.

Jim Ferguson, professor of the popular EATS 101 class at UNC, introduced Salatin at the lecture.

Ferguson spoke about what UNC is doing to establish food as an important subject.

“Food as a legitimate topic is here to stay,” he said.

“We are helping our students focus on enduring questions instead of thoughts du jour.”

Cindy Shea, director of the Sustainability Office, said Salatin was chosen to give his presentation on Earth Day because of the work he has done in the field of food sustainability.

“I was really impressed by Joel and the initiatives he has put in place for farming in a way that is restorative to the land and bolsters the local economy,” she said.

Shea added that the movement for a more sustainable, organic and local food system is becoming more widespread.

“People increasingly like the idea of eating in a way that is healthy for themselves, healthy for the environment and healthy for the local economy,” she said.

She said students who aren’t already involved in the movement should be.

“Students need to think about where their food comes from and where they are spending their food dollars,” she said.

Contact the University Editor at university@dailytarheel.com.