About John Klar
Attorney-turned-farmer John Klar studied literature and political science at the University of Connecticut, and focused on international, tax and environmental law at the University of Connecticut School of Law. He worked as a tax adviser with Coopers & Lybrand (now PriceWaterhouseCoopers) in Hartford, Connecticut and Birmingham, UK before operating a litigation practice in Storrs, Connecticut for seven years.
In 1998, John developed persistent and intense muscle pain that eventually became nearly totally disabling. He was diagnosed with chronic fibromyalgia, but only years later realized he suffered from chronic Lyme Disease. He was forced to close his practice and moved with his wife Jacqueline to northeastern Vermont in 1999, where the couple bought a 160-acre former dairy farm and began learning animal husbandry.
John manages his fibromyalgia with regular (farming) exercise and whole foods. He began writing commentaries for various periodicals, and now writes regularly for Mother Earth News, American Thinker, and Vermont’s True North Reports.
John and Joel chat about farming by Joel's historic hearth at Polyface Farm.
In the Foreword to Small Farm Republic, Joel Salatin writes:
….The liberal-conservative feud in this arena is tragic for our nation, for the soil, for healing.
Klar is an avowed conservative and finds himself politically aligned with Republicans. But he’s embarrassed by both parties’ failure to understand the practical environmental, economic, and social contributions of small family farms and local food systems.
I share this frustration, which is why many years ago I created my own introductory moniker: Christian libertarian environmentalist capitalist lunatic farmer. If liberal Democrats have a blind spot toward big government tyranny, epitomized in the New Green Deal, conservative Republicans have an equally blind spot toward entrepreneurial small farming and land stewardship.
….This book is prescient and timely. “Food liberty is necessary for any liberty at all.” Amen, John Klar. Conservatives who embrace liberty and freedom can get on the right side of national health and food/farm integrity by embracing this prophetic treatise. All of us can use some good old-fashioned conviction and challenge. You don’t have to agree with every point of the sermon to appreciate the message. Wrestling toward truth is always worthwhile, and I challenge everyone to do that with Small Farm Republic.
Joel Salatin
Polyface Farm
Editor, The Stockman Grass Farmer
Videos of Vermont farm animals….
Feeding John’s Herefords in Vermont….
Mother nurturing her heifer calf in Vermont winter….
