“Make the most of the Indian hemp seed, and sow it everywhere!” ~ George Washington

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both actively grew hemp throughout many years of agricultural endeavors at their treasured Virginia abodes, Mount Vernon and Monticello, respectively. There is little evidence to suggest that either man grew the marijuana strain of cannabis; they likely grew the strain of cannabis commonly referred to today as “industrial hemp,” which has absolutely no use as a psychoactive drug. Washington and Jefferson had multi-acre fields of hemp; the plant’s fibrous qualities were invaluable for making rope, cloth, and other critical and commonplace items of the day.

“Hemp… is abundantly productive and will grow for ever on the same spot.” ~ Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson’s journal entries related to hemp can be found on the Monticello website; this particular passage was in his Monticello agricultural journal in 1815.

George Washington exclaimed the above praise for hemp in a letter to the Mount Vernon gardener in 1794.

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“We ask for too much salvation by legislation. All we need to do is empower individuals with the right philosophy and the right information to opt out en masse.” ~ Joel Salatin

Joel Salatin is recognized around the world as one of the leading voices for a return to common sense, earth-friendly farming. I had the opportunity to visit Salatin’s “Polyface Farm” this past March and walk around his beautiful land in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Salatin’s books are fun reads and full of provoking and practical thoughts for farmers and non-farmers alike. If you are interested in localism, sustainable farming, and realistic ideas to become self-sufficient in a practical manner, there is no better place to start than with Joel Salatin’s work.

Joel Salatin endorsed Ron Paul for President in 2008 and 2012.

My uncle, Robert, interacting with the pigs at Polyface Farm.

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Joel Salatin, founder of Polyface Farms (located in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley), is nationally recognized as one of the most influential local and naturally sustainable farmers in America. Salatin was featured in the films Food, Inc. and Farmageddon, which expose the corporate-government relationship in the field of agriculture. Salatin is also the author of eight books, including “Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal.”

Joel Salatin has endorsed Ron Paul for president twice, once in 2008 and again in 2012. This is what Salatin said of Paul in 2008:

I don’t think I’ve ever felt as comfortable with a Presidential candidate as I do this year with Ron Paul. Generally the conservatives worship Wall Street, the military industrial complex, and American empire building around the world. The liberals worship government agencies, government solutions, and never saw a tax they didn’t like or a baby worth saving. So where does a guy turn who wants small government, no subsidies, pro-life, no corporate welfare, and a hoe-your-own-garden military? Finally we have a candidate: Ron Paul.

The reason the mainstream can’t handle him is because he doesn’t fit the stereotypes. And therein lies his strength. As a Christian libertarian environmentalist capitalist, Ron Paul embodies the reasonable approach to thorny issues. He would rein in the globalists by unleashing grass roots entrepreneurs. That’s true free marketing, not pseudo free marketing via corporate welfarism and criminalizing small business. He thinks we should be able to choose what to eat and how to educate rather than big brother government being the only credible approval source.

Rather than squandering the nation’s treasury and goodwill to insure cheap oil, he would unfetter backyard tinkerers whose 100-mile-per-gallon carburetors and cottage-sized alternative fuel prototypes could make the U.S. energy independent. He understands that the real answers do not come from the top down, but always come from the bottom up. And that is why he often casts the solitary opposition vote in Congress. Bless him.

Salatin maintained nothing but praise when he endorsed Paul in the 2012 presidential election:

I’ve been a fan of Ron Paul for years, since the first day I learned about his positions.  He’s the only one with enough backbone to take on the entrenched corporate-government fraternity by attacking with the power of freedom, thereby unleashing entrepreneurial dreams on the marketplace.  Currently cowering under the withering fire of guns, badges, and bureaucracy, America’s home-based and back-yard innovators have plenty of antidotes to the problems that plague our culture.

Paul understands the power of bottom-up creativity.  Reducing the military, both foreign and domestic, reducing regulatory power, and reducing the penetration of prejudicial government interests in the culture is the balanced approach to restore constitutional normalcy.  Paul is the only national figure willing to go to the mat for these precious principles that will ensure tomorrow’s opportunities.

Joel Salatin is a pioneer in the growing local, sustainable, and natural food movement. His endorsement of Ron Paul is an endorsement of the principles of freedom and liberty, which Paul has strongly stood for since getting elected to Congress in 1976.

Joel Salatin photo made by Parkle Lee. 

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