In this essay Joel Salatin gives a unique view on the industrial food system and how we
as people need to gain our independence back. He gives many reasons throughout the essay that
should move the audience into action. He does so by using many rhetorical techniques including
logos, ethos, and pathos which help further his argument. He uses logos as a way showing us
how to reason through what is given and deduce our own individual view. Salatin uses ethos to
show that he is knowledgeable, trustworthy, and has the audience's best interests in mind. Lastly,
pathos is used by Salatin to derive the emotions of the audience and help thrust them into action.
Overall he pushes to the audience that opting out is the best strategy because 'it declares to one
and all, 'You do not control me' (Salatin 187).

Logos, which is the way of reasoning through the evidence that is presented is introduced
immediately by Salatin. He gives us his view upfront that opting out is the most effective way of
going against the system: 'Perhaps the most empowering concept in any paradigm-challenging
movement is simply opting out' (187). He does this in the beginning because he wants to show
us his reasons behind it throughout the rest of his essay. The way he does this is through a mix of
deductive and scientific reasoning. He starts by giving general statements about the matter and
then deduces a solution through smaller examples ' a top down approach. In these examples he
uses facts or truths about the subject to support his perspective. Salatin makes a statement and
admits that the industrial system has created more products than there were in the past. He
analyzes this further and shows us that these products however are not necessarily better due to
way of their production: 'If you took away everything with an ingredient foreign to our three
trillion intestinal microflora, the shelves would be empty' (187). He follows this by explaining
that microflora contribute to a variety of necessary functions of the body. He brings this up to
show the audience that even though industrial food goes through a process of inspection,
products have changed and are just cheap and unhealthy for the consumer. Another
generalization that he makes clear to the audience is that packages, although abundant, are
neither timely nor 'real'. 'These packages wending their way to store shelves after spending a
month in the belly of Chinese merchant marines are actually the meager offerings of the
tyrannical food system' (188). He says this to get the audience to realize that their products for
the most part aren't fresh and wants them to question whether or not this is something they want
to eat. He furthers this argument by speaking of the realness of these foods; 'the food additives,
preservatives, colorings, emulsifiers, corn syrups, and unpronounceable ingredients listed on the
colorful packages bespeak a centralized control mindset that actually reduces the options
available to fill Americans' dinner plates' (188). Salatin uses this example to show how many
unnatural ingredients go into these industrial products and again makes the audience question
what they should really be consuming. With an effective mix of these two types of reasoning
Salatin illustrates to his audience by reasoning through these examples that opting out is really
and truly the best option. His reasoning is supported by facts and specifics well enough for the
audience to consider his point of view to be valid.

The second rhetorical technique used here is that of ethos which has two parts analyze.
There is situated ethos and invented ethos. Salatin uses both here to gain the audiences trust and
convince them that his argument is valid. Situated ethos is what the audience perceives before
anything is said about the subject. Here the situated ethos would most likely include that the
audience expects a liberally biased opinion on the food system which could hurt his purpose of
explanation. Instead of letting this get in his way Salatin approaches the matter in a way that first
speaks on the notion that people could not live without the industrial system and its regulations
and follows it by showing us how to reclaim our 'food freedom'. Salatin is frequently asked
when giving a tour of his farm is about the system and 'how can you feed the world' (188)
without it. With his experience and knowledge about past societies he answers by saying, 'when
you consider the fact that millions of people, including many vast cities, were fed and sustained
using traditional farming methods until just a few decades ago, the answer is obvious' (188). He
believes that we can be much more sustainable without the industrial system because we have
been in the past. Another frequently asked question pertains to food safety and 'how can we be
sure that the food produced on local farms without centralized inspection and processing is really
safe to eat' (188). Many people believe that this could be a real problem but Salatin convinces us
by providing example of milk-borne pathogens, how they came to be, and that this kind of
problem does not exist in a more natural farm setting that practices good habits. A final point he
makes about food safety is that even though you would think that industries are trying to protect
the people in the end 'maybe it's not human health but cooperate profits that are really being
protected' (188). He pushes the audience to see that they relying on a big system is actually
pretty risky and that it is time to make the best decisions for themselves: 'once we realize that
safety is a matter of personal choice, individual freedom suddenly- and appropriately ' takes
center stage' (189). To show the importance of gaining food freedom back Salatin goes as far
mentioning our Bill of Rights, American Constitution, and a call for a food Emancipation
Proclamation. He wants the audience to see that it is our right and decision to consume what we
want not what the system merely provides; 'In America I have the freedom to own guns, speak,
and assemble. But what good are those freedoms if I can't choose to eat what my body wants in
order to have the energy to shoot, preach, and worship' (189). If one doesn't have the right to
choose what they eat then they are enslaved by the system that is supposed to be providing for
them. Overall Salatin uses these examples to create or invent his own ethos. Each time he
mentions his farm it gives the audience reason to disagree because one farm cannot alter the
system. This shows however his experience and knowledge of what can happen if many others
take this approach. These examples also give him strong support of evidence which can sway the
audience away from what they had perceived at the beginning and push them to make a change
in their own lives.

The final technique used here is pathos. Pathos is based out of emotions and the
rationality of these emotions, which applied here concern the audience very deeply. Emotionally,
Salatin wants to bring out freedom of choice. Free from industrial food and all that goes along
with it. He wants the audience to learn that the system doesn't control them and that they have
options. He lays these options or ideas out for them as well. They include getting back into the
kitchen, buying products as close to the farmer as possible, buying what is in season, as well as
being self-sustainable. With many options on the table it is easier for the audience to see that
change can occur. When speaking of desires it is entirely up to the audience, but for the example
of physical health Salatin gives good explanation. That is, that processed easy to cook on the go
meals are not the best for you. It's the food that is precariously cared for by farmers, and the food
that takes time to prepare to capture the health that is desired. Concerns arise with everything but
Salatin counters these concerns by giving steps of good change. He gives us many options to buy
local, some, many people may have never heard of before. His examples include farmers
markets, community-supported agriculture, food boutiques, farmgate sales, and metropolitan
buying clubs. Salatin says 'this nonindustrial food system lurks below the radar in every locality.
If you seek, you will find' (195). This is a very effective and powerful statement because it
shows the audience that they have no excuses to not change because their concerns have been
answered.

In this essay Salatin uses the technique of Enargeia to capture the emotions of the
audience. In this he first makes the issue come alive in great detail. Dealing with the issue of
industrial production examples are used to show the gruesome and inhumane nature of some
industries. The best example that Salatin uses most effectively is when he speaks about
industrial pig farming: 'today's industrial food system views pigs as merely inanimate piles of
protoplasmic molecular structure to be manipulated with whatever cleverness the egocentric
mind can conceive' (190). Secondly he gives the audience reasons for caring, such as making a
difference in the community as well as in oneself, 'the power of many individual right actions
will then compound to create a different culture. Our children deserve it. And earthworms will
love us-along with the rest of the planet' (196). Giving the audience something to care about will
keep them interested in the subject and will push them to make others make a difference as well.
Finally he pushes the audience to show that this view is to be seen one way and not the other.
Here passing it off can no longer be an option, opting out is the most powerful and most effective
way to make a difference: 'if things are going to change, it is up to me and you to change them'
(191). He expects the audience to be careless about the topic because many of them fall into the
category of industrial tyranny but don't see it as a problem, so he evokes their emotions and
gives them a reason to care.

Throughout this essay, Salatin fights to prove his perspective and push the audience into
action. He guides them through his reasoning, establishes a strong backing of support, and plays
on the audiences emotions. The way he uses these techniques ultimately show that this topic is
worthwhile and meaningful to the well-being of all.

