More than any other institution, the American industrial animal farm offers a nightmarish
glimpse of what capitalism can look like in the absence of moral or regulatory constraint …
In the same way that we can probably recognize animal suffering when we see it,
animal happiness is unmistakable, too …
— Michael Pollan, “An Animal’s Place,” The New York Times Magazine, Nov. 10, 2002 .
JAMS
STARTS ! FLOWERS !
Come on Downtown to scare up the ‘Bounty of the County’,
and to see the carving of the GREAT PUMPKIN this weekend!
FARMERS’
MARKET
Saturdays, 9 - 4 Tuesdays, 10 - 3
At 8th & Oak in the Park Blocks of beautiful Downtown Eugene
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344-7900 • 11th & Chambers • Eugene
14 OCTOBER 23, 2003
get to help as Atkinson and his son Ansel
clean eggs for sale at market. Ansel and I rinse
the eggs in soapy water and they travel a con-
veyor system to Atkinson, who packages them
in cartons. When I have to leave, we all shake
hands, and Atkinson hands me a dozen eggs
of my very own.
JAMES BATEMAN
T
he care for things of the natural world
are constant themes for Atkinson. I can
see it as we walk the along the garden
to the cow pasture. His mind is constantly
working at a different or more efficient or hope-
fully better way to do things. And always in the
forefront of his concerns is the stewardship of
the land: “You don’t own the land,” he says
emphatically. “You only hold title to it.”
Atkinson makes a clear connection
between his work as a farmer and his spiritual
beliefs, rooted in Roman Catholicism. He has
advocated for and worked with community
supported agriculture (CSAs), and is particu-
larly excited about the work he is doing with
the Rev. John Pitney of the First United
Methodist Church for congregational support-
ed agriculture.
He doesn’t seem to have any mushy
attachments to the animals on his farm,
though he does talk to the pigs, and he is gen-
tle with the turkeys and hens as we move
about during their feedings. The animals seem
content — whether it’s chickens trotting and
clucking in the cow pasture, or turkeys gob-
bling and strutting in the next field over, or
mama sows lolling in the hay bed or scratch-
ing their sides against their wire-fenced pens.
I know that the turkeys will go to Greener
Pastures Poultry soon to be butchered and
processed for Thanksgiving, and there are
always more orders for pigs than Atkinson can
fill. But I can say with all confidence that at
this moment these animals have a fine life.
During my first visit at Laughing Stock, I
SLEEPING BEAUTY
“Government isn’t necessarily supporting
local farming,” Atkinson says. “You might
see on the news that the governor is going on
some agricultural foray with the farm bureau
people to Asia, say, to sell vegetables or to
sell seed. But as far as the more sustainable,
smaller farms, they seem to be overlooking
them to a large extent.”
He does watch for moves in the right direc-
tion. “Something the government did do,” he
says, “and that came from the federal level, is a
program where they had vouchers for seniors to
go to farmers markets. That’s the direction we
ought to be talking about so people at the local
level get to share the good through their pur-
chases.” Government, Atkinson explains, could
be decidedly more proactive in its support of
small local farms by insisting that hospitals,
jails and school lunch programs buy a certain
percentage of their food from local growers.
“Instead,” he continues, “government gen-
erally talks about how we have the cheapest
food in the world, and government policies are
built around that — that’s what’s important.”
I look him in the eyes and know that my
conversion is inevitable (though it requires
buying better less often, given that moderation
is key when cost is still an issue). I’ve seen the
hens that laid these eggs, and I’ve read about
the hens that lay the 79-cent eggs. It really has
to be no eggs or local eggs when you know the
difference.
Since the stink incident, we haven’t had
store brand chicken. I’ve indulged twice in
organic varieties that do, indeed, taste more
like chicken than anything I’ve ever bought;
which begs the question: What have I been
eating all these years? I’ll be thinking about
this very carefully on every grocery trip from
here on out.
ew
Toni Pimble, Artistic Director
A WAKEN
TO A
WORLD
WHERE A
KISS
CURES
ALL !
P ERFORMANCE S PONSORED B Y :
S LEEPING B EAUTY
N OVEMBER 1-2, 2003
H ULT C ENTER : (541) 682-5000
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