The essay 'Declare your Independence' by third generation alternative farmer Joel
Salatin is about how industrial food is making us sicker, fatter, and poorer and what we can do
about it. This essay is directly related to the movie Food Inc. The very first thing Salatin begins
to talk about is the 'opt-out' strategy and how all he wants us to do when we are finished reading
this essay is to change the way we eat. He clearly makes his argument that we need to 'return to
a more natural, wholesome, sustainable way of eating' (Salatin 187). And to simply just 'start
eating better-right here, right now' (Salatin 187). With the use of logos, ethos, and pathos
throughout his essay, Salatin makes it clear to his audience that all he wants to get his audience
to do is change their thoughts about what is in their food and where it comes from.

First, Salatin employs logos by using rhetorical proofs which are his beliefs on the topic.
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' (Salatin 187). He inserts this into his essay to tell his readers
that ingredients we use for our food today are foreign, and harmful, and 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. Another rhetorical proof he uses is false reasoning. The world-widely view of food
grown on a farm is that that the 'world would starve' (Salatin 188). In actuality just a few
decades ago cities were sustained with the traditional farming methods we avoid today. The
second argument is the safety of food. Many people think that food produced on local farms is
not safe. Then he states that 'food safety is a personal matter of choice'(Salatin 189).Salatin
uses these techniques to not only indicates things, but to show his audience what he means by
backing it up with facts and then drags those ideas to make an even broader statement.

Salatin argues deductively because he begins his argument by telling his audience how
simple it is to opt out and just begin to change our eating habits, but then he begins to actually
narrow down his thoughts and explains more of how to being the process and what standards we
can follow to start this course. Salatin gives his audience five simple steps to follow in order to
start opting out. First, is learning to cook again, he exclaims that our generation spends lots of
money remodeling kitchens and ' popping precooked, heat-and-eat, bar-coed packages into the
microwave for eating on the-run' (Salatin 192). He thinks that instead we should spend more
time in our kitchens so we know what ingredients are going into our food and are sure of where
they came from. Directly following this one is, buying local. By buying local your money stays
in the community, you help out small businesses succeed, and can be sure of where you food
came from and how it has been handled. Thirdly, buying what is in season, and finally planting
you own garden so that you can grow 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' (Salatin
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. There is definitely
enargeia here, because as Salatin explains what continues to occur to animals, his audience is
being shifted to think more about how the animals are tortured and how it is all left in our hands.

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 and established his invented ethos. 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 clearly mentions over and over that 'industrialized food is not
normal' (Salatin 189).And that '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. Salatin does not draw on
his situated ethos as much as he could but he clearly exclaims a few times in the text how he is a
farmer and what he thinks of this issue, therefore giving you his argument and thoughts all
throughout the essay.

In conclusion, Salatin an organic food farmer has engaged a wide range of audiences and
made them re-think their food choices. Although he cannot tell us what to do, he can explain and
further make us understand why and how the way 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, with the use of pathos he
gains 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 brains around the
change that must occur if we just change a few things. As a society we need to 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 they can
change to better their life. Thanks to this essay 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.
