The Choice Seems Obvious

What I find most interesting about chapter ten, is how much better grazed pastures are for the cows and the environment instead of corn-based systems. And in the end, it ends up benefiting us as well because the animals are healthier, meaning their meat is better for us. What makes this way of raising the animals even more desirable is “… remove thousands of pounds of carbon in trees… would remove fourteen billion pounds of carbon from the atmosphere  each year…” (Pollan 197-198). Not only would the grass be better for the animals, but the benefit for the environment would be significant. The way Pollan brings up all of the facts about the benefits of grass-pastures effectively argues to the audience about how much better this way of bringing up animals and the environment is compared to the corn/industrial method.

Chapter twelve is one of my favorite chapters so far in this book. While the method used by Joel doesn’t produce vast amounts of chickens at cheap process, every other aspect of his process is truly better. When it comes to the chickens themselves, it is much more humane. The chance of them getting killed without an error or feeling much pain is much less done his way versus the process in the industrial plants. The point that Pollan made that hit me the most is how Joel’s process of being wide-open to the world exposed to fresh-air and sunlight is the best way. “… transparency is a more powerful disinfectant than any regulation  or technology,” (Pollan 235). Customers know exactly what they’re buying; there aren’t any closed doors in which people can’t see what’s happening. When Pollan introduces this point with all of its imagery and diction, his argument supporting Joel’s process and others like it really hits hard. The audience feels complete support for this method and is completely against the industrial “standard.”