SALEM -- Joel Salatin, an outspoken critic of the conventional U.S. food system and a local-food advocate, will speak in Salem Feb. 12.

Free to the public, the event starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Mary Stuart Rogers Music Center in Hudson Hall on the Willamette University campus.

Salatin is considered a pioneer in the alternative food movement, having developed and introduced sustainable production practices on his family-run Polyface Farm in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.

Polyface serves more than 10 retail outlets, 3,000 families and 50 restaurants through on-farm sales and metropolitan buying clubs.

Salatin gained significant fame because of his roles in the film "Food, Inc." and Michael Pollan's best-selling book "The Omnivore's Dilemma."

His Feb. 12 presentation is titled "Local Food to the Rescue."

Willamette University also will host a free showing of "American Meat," a documentary featuring Salatin, on Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. in the Paulus Lecture Hall, Room 201.

After the showing, filmmakers and local experts in sustainable agriculture will lead a roundtable discussion.

--Mitch Lies