The Musings of the Lunatic Farmer do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of Polyface Farm; they are meant to stimulate unorthodox thinking especially in the arena of preserving liberty.

            The "I Want the Coronavirus"  post from March 16 has exposed some weaknesses both in me and in this blog and its expectations, so let me deal with things one point at a time.

             First of all, please note the above disclaimer.  It will now appear on all blog posts because people mistakenly assumed from that post that here at Polyface we are taking no precautions and have no concerns regarding the coronavirus.  Nothing could be further from the truth. 

             We have canceled all formal farm tours for the month of April--we did that a couple of weeks ago.  We are not going to church and other functions we consider important in our lives.  We are not going to town any more than necessary. We are leaving our store doors open so folks don’t have to touch door handles. We have curbside service available. We've joined a Local Food Drive Thru effort with some other farmers and food crafters to create curbside options so folks can get local food without even exiting their cars.  These are major and significant efforts.

             We are not closing the farm because we're a grocery store and many, many people are desperate to get our integrity food.  We're grateful for their continued patronage and hope we can all weather this together.  I apologize to our Polyface staff and others who think the post indicated we're not concerned as a business in  protecting our staff and food.  Nothing could have been further from my mind.

             Second, about the eggs that could be given to the needy.  We have always given overages to the needy.  We've given to neighbors, the Food Bank, all the businesses we use, the Valley Mission (homeless shelter).  On occasion, however, we overrun those.  Several years ago the Food Bank gave us buckets of eggs to bring home and feed the pigs--sometimes the need and supply simply don't match.

             Fortunately, that post brought several inquiries and the overage is wonderfully remedied.  Whining on social media works.  Thank you.

             Third, as I've reviewed the backlash and talked a lot about that post, it has become more clear in my mind.  The overall idea is two fold.  First is to express faith in a robust immune system.  I have spent a lifetime preaching immune function.  We practice rigorous immune building in our animals and on our farm, from building soil and hydrating to diversifying species and developing pollinators.  I take large supplements of Vitamin C and other things; I don't drink soft drinks or eat Little Debbie cakes.  I have my hands in dirt and compost routinely and even drink out of the cow's water trough from time to time.  How better to demonstrate the validity of an immune-building protocol than to face down a pandemic?

             When Sir Albert Howard encountered the hoof and mouth outbreak in India, he put carriers in corrals with healthy cattle to demonstrate that feeding grass fertilized with compost prevented the highly communicable disease while the cattle fed grass fertilized with chemicals got sick.  He was right.  The neighbors were aghast that he kept some of the infected cattle alive to expose the healthy ones. That is not flippancy or arrogance; it's putting boots and shoes on a paradigm and facing down the enemy.  It's saying I'll walk where I believe.  If we can't walk in our beliefs, what good are they?

             The second overall idea was, yes, to dramatically draw attention to the fact that as far as I know the politician, bureaucrat, scientist has not had the courage to suggest immunity can be encouraged or discouraged.  To pin our hopes on some future vaccine sounds nice and hopeful, but in the end what we need is a national commitment to health and healthy living, healthy soil, healthy food.  That doesn't come from factory farms, chemicals, dead zones the size of Rhode Island in the Gulf of Mexico.  I don't have all the recipe for it, but I'll wager it doesn't come from a syringe or drug.  It starts with healthy spirit, mind, body.  That's another discussion, but I want to hear someone in authority encourage this response.

             Finally, let me just say that even if I'm wrong, or was wrong to make these points, they need to be taken in a whole context.  We live in such a sound bite culture now that a standing ovation can turn into a mob protest on one word.  That's a shame.  Civil discourse demands that we appreciate other viewpoints and stay away from vitriol.

             Can you forgive me?