In 'Declare Your Independence', Joel Salatin argues that people are being controlled by
the food industry in the sense that we do not have a say in what we eat. He believes that it is time
for people to take a stand and challenge the production of our food. Salatin makes his argument
with the three proofs of rhetoric; ethos, logos, and pathos. However, he relies heavily on his use
of pathos to build and enrich his argument, which ignites a flame of reaction in his audience.

In order to fully convince his audience of his argument, Salatin had to first be aware of
the refutations against it; he had to acknowledge that some people do not care for his argument.
To deal with this issue, he creates an enargeia. Throughout the entire essay, he gives many vivid
examples, often using ironic situations, to open the eyes of his audience members. For instance,
when talking about how some people question the safety of the natural foods because they do not
know where they come from or how they have been treated, he gives an example about how the
government allows people to 'gun-shoot a deer with possible variant Creutzfeld-Jacob's
disease', only to later 'drag the carcass a mile through squirrel dung, sticks, and rocks' and feed
it to their children (Salatin 188-189). Salatin also shows the irony of these situations by calling
the food that we eat today 'pseudo-foods' (Salatin 188). By calling processed food 'false/fake
food', he emphasizes that the food that we eat is not safe, even though some people still question
the safety of the naturally produced foods.

Salatin also uses pathos to appeal to his audience's emotions; by doing so, he tries to
generate a response from his audience. However, when trying to appeal to his audience, he must
first know who he is writing to. It is clear that Salatin is writing to an American audience, for he
plays on many of the American beliefs and morals, such as liberty, independence, pride, and,
most importantly, freedom. This is first seen in the title, 'Declare Your Independence'. Salatin
first draws in his audience with this title because as Americans, we strongly support
independence. He also captures the attention of his audience as he inputs his sense of pride and
empowerment when he says, 'The opt-out strategy can humble the mightiest force because it
declares to one and all, 'You do not control me'' (Salatin 187). This quote is effective because it
empowers the audience to believe that they have the ability to not be 'controlled'. As
Americans, we do not like to be under someone else's control, and because Salatin knows this,
he uses that phrase to give his audience a sense of empowerment and strength so that they will
feel obligated to act on the issue. Also, by using this quote, Salatin is able to provoke anger in his
audience for the same reason. America's most sacred belief is that of freedom. In order to get a
response from his American audience, Salatin knew that he must first show them that their
'freedom' is being threatened somehow by one thing: factory-produced food.

Aside from provoking a sense of anger in his audience, Salatin also gives off a sense of
hope. He does this by referencing many of the more trying times in American history: The
American Revolution and the Civil War. By referencing these important events, he is able to
show how America has overcome these moments where a group of people were not granted the
same 'freedoms' as everyone else. Salatin says that we need a 'Food Emancipation
Proclamation', referencing the Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil
War, which essentially freed the slaves (Salatin 189). Even the title itself references the
American Revolution, and how America declared its independence from the British. Salatin says
that we are 'enslaved' to and 'victims' of the modern-day food industry. In his speech, Salatin
portrays 'the British' to be the food industry, which means that he wants his audience to
'declare independence' from this these factory-produced foods. These references make the
audience look at how America has corrected itself with these issues of slavery, to any extent, and
granted the oppressed groups the same freedom, thus creating a sense of hope for the audience.

In addition to his strong usage of pathos throughout his speech, Salatin also uses his
situated ethos to create an invented ethos with which he can convince his audience of his
argument. He is presumed to be a natural-food 'hippie', who will try and express his natural,
liberal ideals to his audience. However, he proves himself to be a well-educated man who is
extremely patriotic in his views against factory-produced food.

Another way that Salatin establishes ethos is through his diction and tone. He sets up a
casual-like tone, making it easier for him to reach his audience, who could very well be a
younger crowd. He sets up a rapport with his audience by speaking on a level that they could
easily relate to. For example, Salatin says 'an opt-out food movement will eventually show the
Henny Penny food police just how wrong they are' (Salatin 192). By saying 'Henny Penny
police', Salatin makes room for humor, which will open up his audience to him, strengthening
his invented ethos.

Salatin argues his viewpoints inductively, beginning his speech with his idea of
challenging the 'paradigm of factory-produced food' and ending with multiple ways to do so
(Salatin 187). By beginning with the specifics, Salatin is able to tell his audience exactly what he
is trying to say: we can easily opt-out from eating factory-produced food. Throughout the speech,
he begins to move towards more general aspects. He mentions the things that we can do to make
the change over to natural foods: 'opting out', 'learn to cook again', 'buy local', 'buy what's in
season', and 'plant a garden'. This is effective because by stating his argument in the beginning
of his speech, Salatin is able to be straightforward with his audience, and by moving into broader
topics towards the end, he is able to give his audience a road to success.

By using patriotic notion to provoke anger, pride, and hope in his audience, Salatin is
able to effectively argue his point on challenging the intake of factory-produced foods. Also, by
establishing his invented ethos, he is able to create a speech that his audience can easily
understanding and be interested in. He uses day-to-day diction for easy comprehension, and by
arguing his point inductively, Salatin is able to clearly tell his audience what he believes in the
beginning of his speech, ending in ways to guide his audience to easily making the change from
factory-produced foods to more natural foods.

