Two Days of Truth - Recap!

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June 16, 2026

By Chris Walker

This weekend Polyface hosted Two Days of Truth, a gathering of like-minded thinkers probing the connections between our diet, our lifestyle, the environment, and our health. The event was brought to us by Dr. Sina McCullough - you may know her from her work with Joel on the Beyond Labels podcast.

Having groups like this on the farm is always a breath of fresh air - Sometimes its just nice to know you’re not the only person on the planet crazy enough to care about what goes into your food! It's wonderful to meet so many of you, to share stories, and learn together from experts in the reality of caring for our health. Every event brings new ideas to the farm, and Two Days of Truth featured some prominent voices like Dr. Eric Berg, Dr. Alexis Cowan, Dr. Scott Jackson, Dr. Leigh Frame, Justin Rhodes, and others you can find at the bottom of this post.

We had a LOT of fun with this crowd! There were talks on gut health and the microbiome, hot dog roasts over an open fire, farm tours, and I swear I heard group singing from the pasture by the broilers!

For a taste of the event, check out a recent recap on the Beyond Labels Clips Youtube channel!

The Right Environment

The farm makes a fantastic backdrop for talks like this. Nestled here in the valley, among the ambience of our peaceful yet productive pastures, it’s easy to see how our lives, our diets, and our food system can be placed back into a beautiful and abundant landscape.

Lunatic Learning

The epicenter of these events on the farm is the Lunatic Learning Center, our dedicated space for hosting speakers, panels, and even live music. It’s been a wonderful addition - the tiered design can accommodate hundreds, and its central location on the farm compound means you’re close to the action: vendors, meals, and our store building (as well as our new bathroom facilities) - all with cows, chickens, and rabbits frequently munching nearby.

Food on the Farm

Coffee, tea and meals are served in our pond-side dining pavilion, the same place the farm crew has family-style dinners every night. Summer Chef Mary is putting our newly upgraded kitchen through its paces - we benefit from her baking prowess! For this event, Daniel Salatin and staff member Asnake Steyer smoked delicious marinated Polyface half-chickens and a whole hog for pastured pulled pork!

Behind the Scenes

Work on the farm never really stops, so in addition the part of our team that stays focused on hospitality, a good number are still out keeping the heart of the farm pumping. This weekend that meant keeping the water flowing in the heat and putting up hay. I take pleasure in coming down the mountain from pig chores to discuss clean local food with curious guests over a meal of smoked pork from a hog that I knew personally!

What’s In Store

On-farm events are a great excuse to swing by our sales building and see what’s new in the store! Lots of attendees pack boxes of our fresh pastured meats to take home at the end of the event, and love that we now feature local baked goods as well as refreshing cold drinks. I had the pleasure of working in the store Saturday and got to meet a lot of you! I love answering questions about the farm and our work and it is so rewarding to help box up your broilers or your order of beef - I know its going to someone who really “gets it!”

Come and Join Us!

If you’ve been needing an excuse to come out to the farm, check out our Events page under the education tab to see what’s coming up. You might learn a new health secret, meet your favorite farm YouTuber, or finally realize that there is a whole movement of people who care about the things you care about. I can’t wait to see you here!

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Two Days of Truth's Fabulous 2026 Speakers

Joel Salatin - Pioneer of regenerative farming, captivating speaker, and your host at Polyface Farm.

Dr. Sina McCullough - Expert in nutrition, food politics, exercise, herbal medicine, and reversal of chronic and autoimmune disease.

Dr. Eric Berg - Leading expert in holistic health and nutrition.

Justin Rhodes - Homesteader, filmmaker and author who has inspired and taught over a million followers to grow their own food and reclaim their independence.

Dr. Alexis Cowan - Pioneer in integrating quantum light biology, nutrition, and mitochondrial health to increase longevity.

Dr. Scott Jackson - Internationally recognized expert in the microbiome, microbial testing, probiotics, and biotechnology.

Dr. Leigh Frame - Expert in the microbiota-gut-brain-immune interface. Named one of the Top 100 Health Care Leaders in the world.

Charles Frohman - Veteran policy strategist featured in Forbes for his healthcare innovations, lobbyist for the National Health Federation and co-host of the Freedom Hub podcast

Jeffrey Smith - Award winning filmmaker and best-selling author for GMO awareness & Creator of a scientifically validated method for elevating brain function to achieve health and healing.

Hilda Labrada Gore - Former host of the Wise Traditions podcast and expert in applying ancient wisdom to modern living.

Speaking the Unspeakable

All of us encounter taboo topics, going where angels fear to tread, and speaking the unspeakable. These cliches capture the dialogue land mines we tend to avoid because most of us have a bias toward self-preservation. Today, I'm going into that space because we've had a flurry of agriculture activity in the news. From President Trump's executive order in favor of regenerative agriculture to the opposite elevating the herbicide glyphosate to national security status to last week's decision to import below-market value lean ground beef product to then musing about reducing regulations on farmers processing their animals, we've seen all sorts of perceptions bandied about. Without getting into the politics of any of these things, here is the unspeakable truth: bad farming exists and good farming exists. There, I said it. The conventional cultural perspective is that farmers are farmers and farming is farming. It's an "all for one," and "one for all" Disney idea that all farming and farmers are in this together. To be fully transparent, as recently as a couple of months ago I used the term "bad farmers" and "good farmers." An astute and charitable friend pulled me aside to critique those phrases and suggest I only use "good farming" and "bad farming" in order to honor to not bag people. Fair enough. I'm now using only "bad farming" and "good farming." The reason this matters is because for decades now, nearly all government subsidies, grants, insurance, and incentives have gone to bad farming. This is why, for all the billions of annual federal expenditures, farms keep going downhill economically, ecologically, and emotionally. Of all the controversial things I've said about farming, by far and away the one that receives the most pushback is when I say bad farming exists. The conventional industrial complex hates the idea. Stink up the neighborhood? "We're just farmers." Pollute the groundwater? "We're just farmers." Dead zone the size of Rhode Island in the Gulf of Mexico due to chemical runoff in the Mississippi? "We're just farmers." With no distinction allowed in the discussion, farming that destroys soil, pollutes the water, desertifies the landscape, produces pathogen-laden food, and disrespects animal behavior gets to ride the emotional equity coat-tails of good farming. As a culture, we should defund bad farming, both publicly and privately. Farm protocols that destroy pollinators, view wildlife as inherently detrimental, and care not a whit about earthworm health are absolutely a national liability whether anyone wants to acknowledge it or not. What are the traits of good farming? Here are some: 1. Build healthy soil. 2. Honor and respect biology, both plants and animals. 3. Prohibit poisons. 4. Increase pollinators. 5. Build immunological function. 6. Increase landscape hydration. 7. Smell good. 8. Look beautiful. 9. Operated by happy people. 10. Interact positively with neighbors. These are principles we try to honor every day here at Polyface, and your patronage enables us to continue pursuing these objectives. The fact that our farm has a 24/7/365 open door policy for anyone to come at anytime from anywhere to see anything unannounced confirms a transparency persona that leads to trust. If you haven't taken us up on this visit invitation, please do. When you look at the above list and think about what most people think about a farm environment, you won't find a single one of those items at a conventional chemical industrial outfit. That's sad but it's also tragic. It matters how a farm operates. It matters how animals get treated. It matters whether the farmer is happy or frustrated. Farming protocols determine these elements; hence, bad farming and good farming. The term regenerative farming is long and hard and not comprehensive. Why don't we just change the verbiage and call it good farming? I'm not embarrassed or afraid to say I practice good farming. And you should not be afraid to say you patronize good farming. Our farm family is indeed in this together, and it's all about good farming, good food. Don't apologize for saying you buy food from good farming instead of bad farming. Talk about a conversation starter. Boy howdy. That'll turn some heads. But you might just educate someone. Speaking the unspeakable is often the first step to waking folks up who are asleep at the wheel. Look in your refrigerator. Look in the pantry. What items come from good farming and which ones come from bad farming? Go ahead; make the distinction. And dare bad farming to defend itself. Speaking the unspeakable often leads to someone trying to defend the indefensible. Thank you for being the change we all want to see.

Two Days of Truth - Recap!

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