1. When Salatin states, “I’m a grass farmer?” he means that grass is his main material from which the rest of the animals on his farm benefit from. The hay the livestock eat have been grazed twice by beef cattle and then afterwards Salatin brings his chickens peck out bugs and larvae out of the cow manure. Their presence spreads their manure like fertilizer for the grass. The chickens then release nitrogen and lays some eggs. The grass then rests for some time and the cycle happens again. The chicken’s contribution to this part of cycle removes the need for chemical parasiticides. So basically, grass is Salatin’s prized ‘crop’.
2. When Pollan discusses the “invention of agriculture,” he is referring to the marriage of grasses and humans. The …show more content…
“Polyphenols are a group of secondary metabolites manufactured by plants that we've recently learned play an important role in human health and nutrition. Many are potent antioxidants; some play a role in preventing or fighting cancer; others exhibit antimicrobial properties”. Organic farming practices do not expose the fruits and vegetables to pesticides, so the fruit/vegetable produces polyphenols because of how much stress or pests it encounters.

7. Grass is not a commodity because it is the complete opposite, value-wise of grain. Grass farmers do not receive subsidy checks from the government. Agribusiness, pharmaceutical, and big oil industry do not profit from them because they do not purchase as much (if any) fertilizers or pesticides. Excess grass does nothing for the economy and cannot be used for political or power gain, grass is not a commodity. Unlike grain, grass cannot be readily accrued, traded, transported or stored, for very long. The quality of grass varies region to region, season to season, and farm to farm. Grass cannot be broken down into smaller particles and reconstructed as a processed food. All viable products that come from grass, milk, fiber, eggs, meat, all have to be from a living organism, not a machine. Grass is not flexible enough to be used like grain is …show more content…
“So the carbon from the woodlots feeds the fields, finding its way into the grass and, from there, into the beef. Which it turns out is not only grass fed but tree fed as well.”
9. When Salatin says “Scale makes all the difference,” he means that having thousands of chickens would overwhelm the locals, land and community. He would also have to outsource migrant workers, since nobody would want to work six days a week processing, turning itself into an industrial farm.
10. Chickens are placed head first into the killing cones and their throats are slit to allow the blood to pump out of the body. Once they have bled out, the chickens are placed in a scalder to loosen their feathers, then they go into the plucker- a machine in which black rubber fingers pluck off the feathers. From there, their heads and feet are removed and the animal is gutted and the insides are kept for sale or thrown into a gutbucket.