HW 7c

Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan - Chapter 11

Précis: Joel Salatin, with the help of his family and late father, has developed many ways of helping his farm to flourish; the extensive knowledge and labor of him and his father have transformed a deplorable, damaged piece of land into a multi-faceted gem of an ecosystem. The forest on the north side of the property (which helps de-stress the animals, provides compost, waters the farm, saves money, and helps the growth off the grass) the chickens (which save money, provide eggs, chicks and meals, and clean up after various animals), the cows (which trim the grass, and provide meat, manure, and milk), the pigs (which help aerobic decomposition to produce composot and provide meals and money), the rakens, the hummus, the grass, and the earth warms are a diamond of many facets, a wonderful holon when combined by Salatin. This farm presents a view very unlike the one-sided perspective used when approaching industrial agriculture.

Gems: "...Joel is able to use his cattle's waste to 'grow' large quantities of high-protein chicken feed for free; he says this trims his cost of producing eggs by twenty-five cents per dozen...Joel can tell you the exact economic implication of every synergy on the farm" (page 211).
            "'I'm just the orchestra conductor, making sure everybody's in the right place at the right time'" (212).
           "But in a biological system you can never do just one thing, and I couldn't add many more chickens without messing up something else" (page 213).

Thoughts and Questions: I would enjoy working on a farm like Salatin's one day. Cliche as it might seem, this chapter supports the idea that working with one's hands, and in an aware and thoughtful way, builds character. Judging from my own past experiences, I'd have to agree. Unfortunately, character is the least of the USDA's, government's, or CAFO managers' worries. They are more worried about making food cheap to consumers, even though it is ultimately an expense in so many ways. I wish there were more Joel Salatins in the world. He's not perfect, but he's got his heart in the right place and he's intelligent. Those two traits don't often acccompany one another in individuals. I wonder why that is? It's probably partly a fault of the propaganda and manipulation of the industrial food industry; acting with awareness and good intentions is difficult and uncommon when looking for food or producing it.

Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan - Chapter 12 



Précis: On Wednesday morning of my stay at the farm, I participated in the slaughter of 300 chickens, not because I wanted to, but because I felt that as a meat eater, it was fitting to participate in the action that is necessary for me to enjoy meat. The USDA inspectors always critisize Joel Salatin's unorthodox manner of killing, plucking, gutting, and cleaning chickens in the open rather than behind "white walls", but there are no regulations that prevent this type of slaughter. Salatin has found a way to live out his world-views, even by doing something as simple and seemingly inhumane as killing chickens and using their waste. He values integrity and transparency when selling to customers, as well as building his community and neighborly relationships; this is something that he finds industrial agriculture sinfully unable to do, because it cannot be regulated, and if that industry was transparent, consumers would lessen.

Gems: "You can't regulate integrity" (page 235).
            "Every government study to date has shown that hte reasons we're having an epidemic of food-borne illness in this country is centralized production, centralized processing, and long-distance transportation of food. You would think therefore that they'd want to decentralize the food system...they'd much rather just irradiate everything instead" (page 230).
            "You have just dined...and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity" (page 227).

Thoughts and Questions: The quote by Emerson can also be found in "Quantum Wellness Cleanse: The 21 Day Essential Guide to Healing Your Mind, Body, and Spirit" by Kathy Freston. (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/books/product.aspx?r=1&isbn=9781602861015&cm_mmc=Google%20Product%20Search-_-Q000000630-_-Quantum%20Wellness%20Cleanse-_-9781602861015). Kathy Freston reminds me of Joel Salatin and Michael Pollan in that they are willing to go against the flow in order to obtain truth, integrity, and transparency after doing substantial research. "The Omnivore's Dilemma" certainly added more meaning to this quote, because the slaughterhouse represents more than just animal cruelty and decreased health of individuals; it also represents a society that has been fed lies by its government, a world floating on petroleum, and the concept of agriculture percieved as a means for making money and approached in a one-sided manner. I wonder what Emerson knew that the people around him did not know, or pretended not to know? Why is kililng animals so "dehumanizing?" To dehumanize is to divest someone of a human quality. What human qualities do we loss by kiling chickens? How can a human become less of a human? I feel that dehumanizing is not really removing human qualities from a human, but rather transforming them into a not so stereotypical human.

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan - Chapter 13

Précis: The Polyface Farm only supplies eggs, chicken, beef, pork, and produce to local consumers, restaurants, markets, shops, and clubs because it saves the world's energy and resources, it reforms the global food system, and it preserves "relationship marketing". Polyface food costs a dollar or so more per pound relative to the industrial market's prices, but this a reflection of the government's regulations on processing food and the irresponsible prices of industrial food. If consumers payed (in dollars) for what they were getting, including the hidden costs to the environment , water pollution, antibiotic resistance, food-borne illness, crop subsidies, oil, and taxes, the aliments Joel Salatin offers would be the cheapest available; this is partly why Allan Nation claims that a business cannot be half industrial and half artisanal.  Between the two enterprises, the perspective people are empowerd to have of food (a commodity vs. "artisanal production) defines how they spend their money and treat food. 

Gems: "Don't you find it odd that people will put more work into choosing their mechanic or house contractor than they will into chosing the person who grows their food?" (page 240).

          "These eggs just jump up and slap you in the face!" (page 242).

          " 'Why do you have to have a New York City? What good is it?' If  there was a dark side to Joel's vision of the postindustrial food chain, I realized, it was the deep antipathy to cities that has so often shadowed rural populism in this country" (page 245).

Thoughts and Questions: I was struck by Pollan's description of Art, Joel's brother. It seemed to reveal that cities are a cause for passing beyond the point of hope for improvement in this world or in human souls. But is this the case? Can life away from a constant abundance of people and their corresponding stress affect one's hope in the world? I suppose Joel more tangibly experiences the warmth, humor, and collaboration of his family and customers than Art does. I wonder if Art is ever annoyed by Joel's constant effort to stop the lies and evil in the world, rather than just live with it.

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan - Chapter 14

Précis: From the Polyface Farm I selected goods with which to make dinner for a family whose friendship I have valued for many years. I slow roasted two chickens, concocted a souffle, and prepared a salad and corn. This meal was nutritionally and piquantly of a higher quality because it was not a result of genetic breeding, feeding corn to animals, using pesticides or chemicals, or keeping organisms from expression their physiological individuality.

Gems: "There was nothing terribly subtle about this meal, but everything about it tasted completely in character" (page 270).

            "But souffle has a spiritual sense, too, as in the breath of life (in English the word "spirit" comes from breath), which seems fitting, for isn't the souffle as close as cookery ever comes to elevating matter into spirit?" (page 273).

            "When chickens get to live like chickens, they'll taste like chickens, too" (page 270).

Thoughts and Questions: This chapter made me both hungry and appreciative of the way details make a difference in a meal. The details (salt, pepper, butter, soaking chicken in saltwater before roasting, the time spent beating eggs, the diet and exercise of the animal) make a huge difference in the mood and quality of a meal. A culture truly is partially defined by the intricacies of its foodways. I am inspired to try making a souffle in the near future.  

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan - Chapter 15



Précis: I decided that it would be a beneficial learning experience for me to attempt to create a meal out of the shortest possible food chain; that is, foraging, hunting, and growing food myself. I wanted to experience firsthand the feeling of killing another creature, of being directly tied to other natural systems, of preparing and eating a meal in full conscioussness of what is involved. Alas, my childhood and recent move deemed this endeavor difficult, to say the least. With the help of a hunter education course and of my friend, Angelo, I will achieve my goal; in the meantime, I am content with observing what is and isn't edible looking in nature.

Gems: "...She made it sound like it wouldn't take much for a kid to get himself killed snacking in the woods" (page 278).

           "Agriculture brought humans a great many blessings, but it also brought infectious disease (from living in close quarters with one another and our animals) and malnutrition (from eating too much of the same thing when crops were good, and not enough of anything when they weren't" (page 279). 

           "Somehow I doubted I would feel quite at home stalking game in the woods, but it was reassuring to think that in doing so I would be contesting only my upbringing, not my genes" (page 280).

Thoughts and Questions: Pollan's desire to eat from the fruits of his own labor, literally, seems more typical of a child than of a grown man. Many children would be fascinated and romantizised by the idea of living in the wilderness, picking berries, possibly shooting animals, and making little fires with flint and steel. For over a year, my little sister has been taking a class that supposedly enables her and her classmates to survive in the wilderness. Because most children do not live in fear of having to survive in the wilderness with limited resources, this class, like Pollan's goal, is probably attractive because it is romantic in some way. However, Pollan has many endearing child-like qualities; he is inherently curious and unceasingly questioning. He is youthful in the best kind of way. Like my sister and the authors of Freakonomics, Pollan has a child-like approach to important parts of life that help him to live in awareness.

 The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan - Chapter 16

Précis: Humans, like rats, are very unique creatures when considering their eating tendencies. Humans have large brains relative to the size of their stomach and guts, which is an effect of requiring a varied diet in addition to superior cognition, memory-storage, food-selection, and sensory capabilities. Humans also require food that is not just good to eat, but culturally pleasing, ethical, environmentally friendly, affordable, or even popular; generally, we are prone to decide if a food is "good to eat" based on taste and familiarity. While Americans wonder why other countries succeed in being healthy minus an obsession with food, other cultures consistently feast upon combinations of foods that are nutritionally complementary (like eating soy sauce with rice), and maintain customs (like eating only when with other people).

Gems: "But rats and humans require a wider range of nutrients and so must eat a wider range of foods, some of them questionable. Whenever they encounter a potential new food they find themmselves torn between two conflicting emotions unknown to hte specialist eater, each with its own biological rationale: neophobia, a sensible fear of ingesting anything new, and neophilia, a risky but necessary opennness of new tastes" (page 288).

         "There does seem to be an evolutionary trade-off between big brains and big guts - two very different evolutionary strategies for dealing with the question of food selection" (page 290). 

         "Curiously, the one bodily fluid of other people that doesn't disgust us is the one produced by the human alone: tears. Consider the sole type of used tissue you'd be willing to share" (292).  

Thoughts and Questions: In many ways, evolved traits that once preserved our existence now seem to be causing our downfall. Our tendency for favoring sweetness once helped us to find good sources of sustainance; now it is causing numerous health problems. Similarly, we still avoid bitter food, thereby causing an unfortunate lack of vegetables and important nutrients in our diets. Will natural selection begin to favor people who lack strong the ability to taste well? Will the next several centuries procur a population of people who hate sweetness?