I think one of the biggest things Michael Pollan is trying to get at here is the same idea Schlosser shares at the end of Fast Food Nation that “Nature is smart as hell” (Schlosser 255). Pollan explains the “management intensive grazing” in a way showing that there was “as much complexity present in a single square foot of this pasture as there is in the whole industrial complex... what makes this pasture’s complexity so much harder for us to comprehend is that it is not a complexity of our making” (Pollan 195). Humans go through so much effort and waste bringing fossil fuels and energy sources from across the world to single beef processors that they don’t realize the potential men like Joel Saladin show in using nature’s design of grass farming to mass produce livestock and essentially energy as it is passed along the food chain. The whole design shows how nature naturally pulls the most potential out of grass and pastures grazed by cattle in this “MiG” as “organic matter builds from the top-down” in these pastures allowing for cows to constantly move getting fresh organic, nutrient and energy filled grass every day (Pollan 196). I also asked myself from an economic standpoint why we would change over and that there may be a greater incentive to move to corn because of the amount of total energy, “but researchers at the Land institute have studied this question and calculated that in fact more nutrients are produced- protein and carbohydrate- in an acre of well- managed pasture than in an acre of field corn” (Pollan 199). Economics is based on a central motive of incentives and choice. People make decisions based on the best option available to them, and I feel as though in many situations like this and the fast food industry that priorities have been casted away as we place incentives such as what seems to be less work and easier, but at a cost of more money and unrenewable energy. word count: 336 1. Is a lack of information or insight really the cause to the extra use of corn and other methods of raising cattle? 2. How do we inform farmers on how they should raise their own cattle?
Is this type of faming compatable for a larger scale? Should this larger scale even be attempted if it is possible? In Michael Pollan’s novel The Omnivore’s Dilemma, the idea of grass feeding cow being efficient and effective seems very plausible, but while this practice can work for a small, self-sustained family farm, it seems highly impractical on a large scale. While farms should not resemble massive feedlots with thousands of cattle, eighty cattle really are not that much. Pollan describes the cattle in a way that seems like this plan could be replicated on a larger scale. He even quotes the suggestion that if the “sixteen million acres” that the corn companies use to produce their product “became well-managed, that would remove fourteen billion pounds of carbon from the atmosphere each year” (Pollan 198). While this goal is extremely appealing and can be seen as something to strive for, it seems highly unlikely that there will be the dedication the land that you find among these farmers. As seen in other readings and films throughout this semester, it has been highlighted how hard it is already for the “family owned farm” to survive even if it does have a couple hundred head of cattle. This family nearly operates “completely off the grid,” especially in terms of their food (203). While it would seem that many other families could do this practice, there would then be a shortage of people willing to do other jobs. A society thrives off the varied tasks that make up a diverse community. If everyone retreated into their own private sphere and produced only for themselves, then society would run the risk of slowly shutting its self down. While this seems extreme, so does the option provided against the mass consumerism of the feed industry. In Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, Tocqueville, like many of the founding fathers that he was studying, worried that a democratic America would retreat too far into their own business and that of their close family and friends. This could lead to a people ruled by apathy and susceptible to soft-despotism. While the Salatin’s farm and removed way of life works for them and on a small scale, there runs a risk to society to remove ourselves too far from our community and Pollan fails to address this. Word Count: 366
What are the main advantages of raising cattle on grass, and how is this method beneficial to humans?
In the work, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”, by Michael Pollan, many of the proper methods of raising cattle are examined, and it is evident that cattle should be fed grass. It is important for cattle to be raised on grass because through eating grass they are able to gain solar energy that they cannot gain from being fed other types of food. It is also important for cattle to be grass-fed because humans are able to take this grass-fed cattle meat and convert it into valuable human energy. This is evident when Allen Nation states, “All agriculture is at its heart a business of capturing free solar energy in a food product that can be turned into high value human-energy” (Pollan 188). Nation, who is a major supporter of feeding cattle grass, is aware of the importance of allowing cattle to capture solar energy that is absorbed in grass, and that humans can benefit greatly from eating cattle that has been fed grass. Joel Salatin, a grass farmer and a major supporter of raising cattle on grass, describes another advantage of feeding cattle grass. That advantage is the fact that grass is able to grow back just a few days after a cow has eaten it, which makes raising grass-fed cattle efficient and easy. Salatin states, “That’s the blaze of growth, right there. I’d say this paddock will be ready for the cows to come back in three or four more days” (Pollan 190). This rapid growth of grass makes it efficient for farmers to raise grass-fed cattle, and it enables them to have a constant supply of food for their cattle. The raising of cattle on grass is becoming less popular in the United States because of the high demand for cattle as a result of the massive growth of the fast food industry. It is almost non-existent in our country today, and many people deal with serious health problems as a result of unclean meat that stems from cattle being fed unclean food. Word Count: 336
I think one of the biggest things Michael Pollan is trying to get at here is the same idea Schlosser shares at the end of Fast Food Nation that “Nature is smart as hell” (Schlosser 255). Pollan explains the “management intensive grazing” in a way showing that there was “as much complexity present in a single square foot of this pasture as there is in the whole industrial complex... what makes this pasture’s complexity so much harder for us to comprehend is that it is not a complexity of our making” (Pollan 195). Humans go through so much effort and waste bringing fossil fuels and energy sources from across the world to single beef processors that they don’t realize the potential men like Joel Saladin show in using nature’s design of grass farming to mass produce livestock and essentially energy as it is passed along the food chain. The whole design shows how nature naturally pulls the most potential out of grass and pastures grazed by cattle in this “MiG” as “organic matter builds from the top-down” in these pastures allowing for cows to constantly move getting fresh organic, nutrient and energy filled grass every day (Pollan 196). I also asked myself from an economic standpoint why we would change over and that there may be a greater incentive to move to corn because of the amount of total energy, “but researchers at the Land institute have studied this question and calculated that in fact more nutrients are produced- protein and carbohydrate- in an acre of well- managed pasture than in an acre of field corn” (Pollan 199). Economics is based on a central motive of incentives and choice. People make decisions based on the best option available to them, and I feel as though in many situations like this and the fast food industry that priorities have been casted away as we place incentives such as what seems to be less work and easier, but at a cost of more money and unrenewable energy. word count: 336
ReplyDelete1. Is a lack of information or insight really the cause to the extra use of corn and other methods of raising cattle?
2. How do we inform farmers on how they should raise their own cattle?
Is this type of faming compatable for a larger scale?
ReplyDeleteShould this larger scale even be attempted if it is possible?
In Michael Pollan’s novel The Omnivore’s Dilemma, the idea of grass feeding cow being efficient and effective seems very plausible, but while this practice can work for a small, self-sustained family farm, it seems highly impractical on a large scale. While farms should not resemble massive feedlots with thousands of cattle, eighty cattle really are not that much. Pollan describes the cattle in a way that seems like this plan could be replicated on a larger scale. He even quotes the suggestion that if the “sixteen million acres” that the corn companies use to produce their product “became well-managed, that would remove fourteen billion pounds of carbon from the atmosphere each year” (Pollan 198). While this goal is extremely appealing and can be seen as something to strive for, it seems highly unlikely that there will be the dedication the land that you find among these farmers. As seen in other readings and films throughout this semester, it has been highlighted how hard it is already for the “family owned farm” to survive even if it does have a couple hundred head of cattle. This family nearly operates “completely off the grid,” especially in terms of their food (203). While it would seem that many other families could do this practice, there would then be a shortage of people willing to do other jobs. A society thrives off the varied tasks that make up a diverse community. If everyone retreated into their own private sphere and produced only for themselves, then society would run the risk of slowly shutting its self down. While this seems extreme, so does the option provided against the mass consumerism of the feed industry. In Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, Tocqueville, like many of the founding fathers that he was studying, worried that a democratic America would retreat too far into their own business and that of their close family and friends. This could lead to a people ruled by apathy and susceptible to soft-despotism. While the Salatin’s farm and removed way of life works for them and on a small scale, there runs a risk to society to remove ourselves too far from our community and Pollan fails to address this.
Word Count: 366
What are the main advantages of raising cattle on grass, and how is this method beneficial to humans?
ReplyDeleteIn the work, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”, by Michael Pollan, many of the proper methods of raising cattle are examined, and it is evident that cattle should be fed grass. It is important for cattle to be raised on grass because through eating grass they are able to gain solar energy that they cannot gain from being fed other types of food. It is also important for cattle to be grass-fed because humans are able to take this grass-fed cattle meat and convert it into valuable human energy. This is evident when Allen Nation states, “All agriculture is at its heart a business of capturing free solar energy in a food product that can be turned into high value human-energy” (Pollan 188). Nation, who is a major supporter of feeding cattle grass, is aware of the importance of allowing cattle to capture solar energy that is absorbed in grass, and that humans can benefit greatly from eating cattle that has been fed grass. Joel Salatin, a grass farmer and a major supporter of raising cattle on grass, describes another advantage of feeding cattle grass. That advantage is the fact that grass is able to grow back just a few days after a cow has eaten it, which makes raising grass-fed cattle efficient and easy. Salatin states, “That’s the blaze of growth, right there. I’d say this paddock will be ready for the cows to come back in three or four more days” (Pollan 190). This rapid growth of grass makes it efficient for farmers to raise grass-fed cattle, and it enables them to have a constant supply of food for their cattle. The raising of cattle on grass is becoming less popular in the United States because of the high demand for cattle as a result of the massive growth of the fast food industry. It is almost non-existent in our country today, and many people deal with serious health problems as a result of unclean meat that stems from cattle being fed unclean food.
Word Count: 336