Book: Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Precis
Nurturing a pasture to its full health is possible. In Salatin's polyfarm, each animal plays its own significant role and contributes to every other animal in a way that each animal can flourish and provide energy to the entire ecosystem. The chicken is the source of fertility, feeding broilers, transforming then to feces which feeds the grass eaten by the cows. Not only are these tasks are efficient but also, profitable. The farm animals in Polyfarms not only represent a working population significant to the health of the farm but a path straying away from industrial agriculture.
Gems
"The thick June grass was silvered with the dew sequence of bright pastures stepping up the hillside dramatically set of by the broad expanses of blackish woods" (Pollan 209).
"In an ecological system like this everything's connected to everything else, so you can't change one thing without changing ten other things" (Pollan 213).
Thoughts
A polyfarm is both fundamental and self-sufficient, welcoming us humbly into its abode, without secrets but open arms. As to why there aren't more polyfarms, is obvious due to the food industry desire to increase their profits as much as they can by producing cheap foods to sell to consumers. Nature seems complex and the idea of trying to put nature under control using pesticides and other chemicals seems just as crazy and difficult. Why would we want to change something that sustained our ancestors just as well if not better? Change is inevitable but to preserve the idea of all-natural farming would do more good than bad for humankind. Is this ideal? I can't say for sure, because in this society, technology and science are superior as to where rudimentary ideas do not survive for long.
Chapter 12 (The Slaughter: In A Glass Abattoir)
Precis
Slaughter is never what'd you expect it'd to be and trust that slaughter is no pretty sight. The experience of slaughtering chickens was more than necessary in the event of my attempting to have a conscious and enjoyable meal. Salatin, on the other hand, thought gutting and cleaning chickens was ultimately an animosity and but lived out his world views, promising his consumers that his chickens were never welcomed into an industrial abode but, rather the natural cycle of life and death.
Gems
"Slaughter is dehumanizing work if you have to do it every day" (Pollan 233).
"The compost pile repulsed me, but what did that say? Beyond my nostrils, the pile offered an inescapable reminder of all that eating chicken involves- the killing, the bleeding, the evisceration" (Pollan 237).
Thoughts
When I take a bite out of a juice-filled cheeseburger, slaughter never comes to mind. I'm not sure if I subconsciously avoid the thought but, I know that the thought is somewhere wandering around in my mind. I don't do well in the presence of blood much less, guts and feces. Slaughter isn't my forte and definitely not the subject I'd like marvel at but, I can imagine the look I'd present everyday if I had to slice, cut, or sever anything alive. Quite honestly, I'd like to have been a little more ignorant of the process of slaughter but, I've accepted some aspects of it because the slaughter is the food on my plate and the meat on my bones and without these things, what would I be?
Chapter 13 (The Market)
Precis
Polyfarms strive to preserve the idea of community by limiting their sales to only local communities. This insures the preservation of natural resources in the environment. The industrial food industry has lured consumers in with its promise of convenience and low prices. Salatin's farm offers quality over quantity, saving you from pollution and diseases that are likely to derive from industrial foods. Polyfarms allow the relationship between seller and consumer to thrive and flourish unlike that of the industrial industry.
Gems
"Don't you find it odd that people will put more work into choosing their mechanic or house contractor than they will into choosing their food?" (Pollan 240).
"Yet this artisanal model works only so long as it doesn't attempt to imitate the industrial model in any respect" (Pollan 249).
Thoughts
Living in the city, reform from industrial foods to more healthy foods from polyfarm markets seems impossible. New Yorkers are far more worried with other things besides their meal. With shiny glass condos popping up around the city, where's there going to be places for more local markets? The average New York would not be willing to commute for more than an hour just to a market with locally grown food when there is a local supermarket just two blocks away.
Chapter 14 (The Meal)
Precis
Artificial foods hold no promise while grass fed foods guarantee authenticity and nutrition. Disease ridden industrial foods are unwelcoming and so, we should strive for the foods our ancestors ate with no hesitation. Genetic breeding cannot offer the bounties grass fed foods carry such as mega-3's and vitamin E.
Gems
"When chickens get to live like chickens, they'll taste like chicken too" (Pollan 271).
"Industrial diet of easy sugars has dulled your taste for the earthy sweetness of corn, now that it has to compete with things like soda" (Pollan 266).
Thoughts
After spending most of my life eating industrial foods, I wonder if I have ever really tasted the true flavor of chicken and if I did, would I realize a difference? Tasting a food is truly a sacred experience I wish I hadn't tainted with all the chemical induced foods I've digested. I'd spend more time marveling at a food of quality than a plate stacked high with unsatisfying commodities.
Chapter 15 (The Forager)
Precis
My experience foraging the food on my plate that would eventually end up in my stomach was fulfilling and prolific. Uncomfortably, I explored the forests in search of foods and developed more of an appreciation for nature. The idea of killing an animal processes no simple thought in mind instead induces stress. However, this meal will be fruitful and will tie me to nature as I eat consciously.
Gems
"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" (Pollan 280).
"By contrast the hunter, at least as I imagine him, is alone in the woods with his conscience" (Pollan 281).
Thoughts
The method of hunter gathering would be hard to sustain especially in this community where consumers are likely to buy more than they need, generally stockpiling. The wilderness does not offer a constant supply we can indulge in. We have evolved our society in which things that cannot be consistent, are out of the competition. After adapting to eating an abundance of food for so long, I'm sure it'd be difficult to minimize our intake of food and surmount it onto the idea of hunter-gathering.
Chapter 16 (The Omnivore's Dilemma)
Precis
We omnivores carry the ability to be able to eat almost anything but, we tend to overlook the simplicity of food and stress which foods are good or bad. Humans not only eat food to eat, but to feel the pleasure and luxuries of culture. In addition, affordability and ethics play a big role in our choosing of which foods to eat among several other variables.
Gems
"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"(Pollan 292).
"The set of rules for preparing food we call a cuisine, for example specified combinations of food and flavors that on examination do great deal to meditate the omnivores dilemma"(Pollan 296).
Gems
"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"(Pollan 292).
"The set of rules for preparing food we call a cuisine, for example specified combinations of food and flavors that on examination do great deal to meditate the omnivores dilemma"(Pollan 296).
Thoughts
Taste is a significant factor especially a familiar taste that I know will do no harm but, allow my taste-buds to indulge in flavors and enamor itself fully. Our taste for good foods has developed and most definitely changed over the course of time and I wonder if that is a good thing? Has our taste for the good heightened or instead vice versa?
Taste is a significant factor especially a familiar taste that I know will do no harm but, allow my taste-buds to indulge in flavors and enamor itself fully. Our taste for good foods has developed and most definitely changed over the course of time and I wonder if that is a good thing? Has our taste for the good heightened or instead vice versa?
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