Folks, This Ain't Normal: A Farmer's Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World

Salatin, an experienced farmer notable for cameos in Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma and the documentary, Food Inc., contributes a convincing group of essays about the way we fail ourselves and the environment through industrial monoculture farming. Dedicated to producing real food for a local market, much of his written work (he has self-published seven books, including Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal) is concerned with nonsensical government regulations and this book is no exception. Topics range from child-rearing to the importance of herbivores in farming and food cycles; readers will learn more about excrement than they ever cared to know. Perhaps the biggest question threading the collection is one Salatin asks himself: Is this way of living "normal%E2%80%9D or anachronistic? Most readers will reach mixed conclusions, but likely feel compelled to make a few lifestyle changes following what he preaches%E2%80%94his handy bullet points for action at each chapter's end make it easy to try. Liberals and conservatives alike will find things to love and hate from this self-described "Christian libertarian environmentalist capitalist lunatic,%E2%80%9D but that makes this book all the more fun and challenging.%C2%A0(Oct.)