The mindful meatsmith of ethicurean farming - Tammi Jonas of Jonai Farms

Tammi Jonas is the co-founder of Jonai Farms, President of the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance, an ethicurean farmer, and mindful meatsmith. Jonai Farms is a pastured fed farm which was the first in Australia to crowdfund development of its infrastructure and a leader in community-supported agriculture. From a very young age, I idolised the idea of having my own place to produce homegrown food. When an old friend purchased a farm recently in Gippsland, my interest was piqued again. Keeping the “pigness of the pig” is the first line in Tammi’s list of principles, inspired by one of my favourite farmers, Joel Salatin. The commonality amongst both Tammi and Joel is what we call Holistic Farm Management. A systems thinking approach to farming that minimises the effects on the local environment, ensures the “pigness of the pig” and provides healthy food or animals for us to eat. The bedrock that supports this is a distribution model called Community Supported Agriculture, a subscription-based form of distribution that caps the horrible downside that farmers can experience. Many thanks to Jackson O’Malley for the recommendation to Tammi’s work.