This weekend is the weekend we wait for all summer long. It's the Kickapoo Country Fair in La Farge, WI – just one town away. We've gone every year since we moved to Viroqua. My kids refer to it as "The fair where you let us eat cotton candy – with the stilt-walking butterflies." (I posted about it here a couple of years ago.) Sponsored by Organic Valley and held at their headquarters, the Kickapoo Country Fair serves all organic food. Really. It's the fair, but organic.
This year (and every year) there are great speakers too. Last year I got to ask questions and taste kraut made by Sandor Katz, author of Live Fermentation. And this year's stellar line-up includes Shannon Hayes, author of Radical Homemakers. Not to get to giveaway crazed, but today Shannon has generously provided me with a copy of her book to share with you. I can't say enough about this book. It is life-changing. I identified more with what I have read in this book than perhaps any book I've read before.
I interviewed Shannon this week. Here's what she had to say.
Clean: How long have you been writing?
Hayes: Since i finished my PHD in 2001.
Clean: What inspired you to take the life and work path that you have chosen?
Hayes: I
didn't want to leave my family farm or community. I really like it
here. Simultaneously, my personal politics made it very
difficult/impossible for me to find a job locally. That turned out to
be good thing, because I got a far better deal, being able to stay
home and on the farm all the time!!
Clean: How do you believe your work is bringing good into the world?
Hayes: I'm
trying to ask questions, to challenge the assumptions we've made in our
culture that bind us to ecologically-damaging lifestyles that cause
suffering world-wide as the rest of the coutries try to keep up with
American consumer needs. I'm pushing people's comfort levels, asking
them to consider their fears in changing the way we live. Sometimes
that offends folks, but it does get them talking. And a lot of people
are taking action, which is thrilling to witness.
In addition to Shannon's book, I have four tickets to the fair to share with local/regional readers. Enter a comment below and let me know if you want the book, the tickets, or anything I'll give ya'. I'll choose three winners (one for the book and two for two tickets each) after I close comments on Friday morning.
Comments are now closed. Winner will be announced shortly!
And I also want to mention this: if you aren't the lucky winner to receive a copy of Shannon's book, I urge you to run to your local bookstore and buy a copy. Immediately. It'll change your life.