Joel Salatin is a third generation organic food farmer who has had his works published
nationally and has made a documentary and a book both called Food Inc. These explain what
industrial food is doing to society today. In his book there is a chapter called 'Declare your
independence' in which Salatin clearly emphasizes his thesis statement and tells his audience
right away what it is that he is trying to get across to his readers. He wants to go back to a more
natural and wholesome way of eating and life. With the use of logos, ethos and pathos
throughout his essay, Salatin manages to create a reasonable argument and makes his audience
understand why farms are important. And, how when food used to be gathered previously in
history, it was much better than how it is done today.

First, Salatin employs logos by using rhetorical proofs which are his beliefs on the topic
and based on human desires and needs. To begin with Salatin uses scientific proofs like facts to
back up his evidence. Salatin states 'If you took away everything with an ingredient foreign to
our three trillion intestinal micro flora, the shelves would be bare indeed'. He inserts this into his
essay to tell his readers that ingredients we use for our food today are foreign, and harmful. If the
ingredients that are not good for us were to be eliminated we would not have anything left over.
This begins to get readers to think in a bigger spectrum about where our food is coming from. He
also exclaims that if we abolished the products that would have not been available in 1900, most
everything would be gone. Salatin not only indicates things he also shows his audience what he
means by backing it up with facts and then drags those ideas to make an even broader statement.
We do not realize how we tend to ignore all the bad ingredients that are in our food even though
we know their warnings say most are not good for us, yet we eat them anyways. We as a society
are not aware of where the food on our dinner plate is coming from. By starting off with minimal
information then comparing out lifestyles and food choices to the ones that would have been
made a century ago Salatin persuades his audience to believe that maybe there is something
wrong that we are not taking into perspective. Maybe we need to make a choice on whether we
are going to accept our wrong doings with food, or make a few changes. Salatin offers five ways
to get back the freedom to choose our food. He mentions that the very first thing you have to
make a change is to 'Opt out'. By this he means that if things are going to change then we, the
audience need to make that change occur. The second thing Salatin wants us to do is to learn to
cook again. By learning to cook again we will know what we are eating because we will be more
aware of the ingredients in our food and how it was all prepared. Next, to buy local; in places
such as farmers markets, that way money that you spend will remain in your community.
Farmers markets are usually your best bet because they grow things nearby and you can always
know where your food came from and where it was grown. Thirdly, buy what`s in season and
lastly plant a garden and grow some of your own food. All of these ideas will get our society to
step back from the industrialized paradigm which we currently have and give us choices on what
we want to eat and also truly know where our food comes from.

Pathos is also another way Salatin convinces his audience that the way we gathered food
100 years ago was better than all the processed and manufactured products we have now. As
humans we realize that animals have to die in order for us to have certain food products. But,
many of us do not know the details of how they slaughter animals. As a farmer Salatin explains
the treatment his animals receive at his farms. Salatin says 'meat chickens move every day in
floorless, portable shelters across the pasture, enjoying bugs, forage, and local grain' (190).
Salatin mentions this to appeal attention toward his audience, and make them comprehend how
he as a farmer takes care of his animals, like they are priceless and all important. He then shifts
gears and talks about the other side that there is to this. Salatin explains how todays food system
views pigs as lesser than humans and treat them like they are nothing and Salatin says that 'a
society that views its plants and animals from that manipulative, egocentric, mechanistic mindset
will soon come to view its citizens in the same way' (190). This evokes feelings of sympathy
towards the animals and even towards ourselves because if we do not make a change society will
soon treat us all like pigs. Salatin tries to create an emotional connection between the lives of the
pigs and our lives. By comparing us to the pigs in a way and creating that connection the
audience begins to feel like they need to become more responsible with their food choices and
feel like they want to be more mindful of their surroundings. By appealing sympathy to his
audience in that manner, he successfully is able to get emotion out of them, and that way they are
somewhat attached to the topic and will keep in mind the struggle of animals life's and how
easily we can change certain things in order for that to not keep occurring.

Another instrument that was used in Salatin`s essay was ethos. The fact that he is a
farmer and has had works published nationally and made documentaries backs up all of his facts
and makes him have more credibility with this topic. Because it is something he does personally
and knows a lot about the audience automatically believes anything he says and believes about
this topic; he is an authority that can be trusted. He even goes on to compare industrialized food
to the people on the Dred Scott case that insisted on believing slaves were not human beings.
'Just because well-educated people, credentialed experts say something does not make it true'
(Salatin 189). The inclusion of this quote is to infer that sometimes people believe whatever
those in power say but, you can't always believe what you hear sometimes you have to make
your own decisions especially regarding food safety and knowing what all is in the food we eat
today. With all those additives, preservatives and hard to pronounce ingredients on the back of
labels there is no wonder there has been such a dramatic change in a century regarding food
gathering and where it comes from.

In conclusion, Salatin an organic food farmer has engaged a wide range of audiences and
made them re think about their food choices. Although he cannot tell us what to do he can
explain and further make us understand why how food is processed today is hazardous to our
bodies. We take in food that has preservatives, additives and ingredients that we cannot
pronounce the names to. With the use of logos to state facts and the use of deductive reasoning to
bring up a big topic and slowly narrow it down Salatin begins to get his audiences attention. Not
only that, he also included his situated ethos to make himself a trustworthy subject when he talks
about growing food on a farm versus factory produced food. Lastly, the use of pathos to gain an
emotional response from his audience to attach them to the animals that are harmed and killed on
a daily basis just so we can have food on the table. The way animals are treated by big
corporations is terrible and they do not deserve that treatment. Salatin used all of these
techniques to gather his audience into a state of mind to be able to wrap their minds around the
change that must occur if we want to, as a society know what we are eating and create a better
life for us and also the animals that are involved. Overall, Salatin is very successful on changing
his audiences mind and making them think of small things thy can change to better their life.
Now we are all more informed on why farming the old fashion way is not only good for us and
the environment but also for the animals.
