Polyface Farms

"farm of many faces"
Doesn't that sum up their philosophy? How many farms acknowledge that animals have faces? Sure the farmers see animals, but do they really SEE the animals they raise? Polyface Farms was profiled in "The Omnivore's Dilemma" as a place where pesticides, fertilizers, and antibiotics were unnecessary as part of normal operations. The cynic in me thought 'yeah right. It can't really be like that in real life. The author's weeklong experience there was just to show it's possible.'

QE and I visited Polyface today. I saw first-hand how it's really done, and Michael Pollan captured exactly what really happens. It's not tourist-friendly like a vineyard. The "sales office" is little more than a hut or shed (no AC!). There's no picnic area or restrooms. The latrines were quite clean though. Walking through tall grass and weeds, we first met the broiler chickens. There were lots of pens with lots of chickens in each. The pens were like an upside-down playpen for babies. Each pen had chickens in similar age/size. It was kind of stinky. If open-air pens in a field stink, what must chicken feed houses smell like? Don't think I want to know the answer.

Next, we walked into the woods where the piggies were. Mr. Salatin (owner) was giving a tour to some Virginia Tech students, so I didn't get a great view of the pigs. They were huge! Piggies are not the cute Wilbur or Babe size pigs--these pigs were the size of--well, large enough for me to never want to piss off a pig. They were also loud when they yelled at each other. What was really cool was that the piggies all had their curly tails, unlike production pigs. No need to dock tails when they are happy and not distressed. Happy pigs = pigs that don't suckle or chew another pig's tail.

We moved on to visit the cows. As we drove on to the farm, we saw the cows and a few greeted us. I was excited to finally meet them. As we walked into the pasture, the calves were intrigued by us, but not enough to allow us to get too close. Most of the herd was chilling under a tent. Cows like to lounge in the shade during the hottest part of the day. We saw cows resting under trees on other farms, so I knew the tents weren't weird. Polyface sets up a tent in a new plot of land daily and that's where the cows hang out. They didn't look too happy by a human's standard, with all those bugs flying around, the hot and humid air, and having to share the shade with other cows. But the cows seemed happy. When Polyface says visitors are free to roam the farm, they weren't kidding. We were in the cow pasture with the cows! No barriers between us and the moo moos.

Our visit to the egg-laying hens was most amusing. Chickens are loud. And they really cluck! As we approached the Eggmobile (all animals get moved daily to new land in a rotation), the welcoming committee came to greet us (in the video). They weren't just moseying along--they were running towards us. For a brief moment, we panicked at the thought of getting pecked and chased by chickens. Luckily for us, they were very friendly and just wanted to say hi. Inside the Eggmobile, there are little cubbies for chickens to hang out, just like in cartoons.

A few hours of walking around and meeting everyone was tiring. I have no idea how the farm manages to do real work. We bought some really good looking meats and eggs. The eggs are ungraded, but some gave "large" a whole new meaning. Speaking with one of the employees, I learned that even "cage-free" eggs aren't much different than conventional eggs. Just because they are cage-free doesn't mean the hens get to roam around or eat a nutritious diet. Polyface's eggs are called pastured eggs. Their hens get to go where they please, eat grass, peck at dirt and just be a happy chicken. In fact, we saw a few hens who dug trenches in the ground to relax and dusted theirs feather with dirt. Production birds who roll around on the ground would be rolling in poop.

It was very cool to see a small farm make a difference in the lives of their animals. We can't save the world, but we can share our passion with others. After seeing the happy animals, I feel less guilty about eating another living creature's flesh. I've been going vegetarian the past week, and frankly I don't really miss the meat. I don't feel the need to eat meat. It's just more convenient since it's everywhere. Having to think about the source of my food has made me think twice about meals. Is organic lettuce from CA really necessary? The fuel burned to ship me that bag of lettuce cost much more than the $3 I spent for that organic spinach. Did me forgoing meat all week really save a chicken or cow's life? Doubtful. But imagine what would happen if 10,000 people chose "happy" animal meat or became vegetarian.