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Samantha Prokop ENC 1102 Professor Rooney 18 June 2016 Prosperity is Complexity In order for an ecosystem to flourish, all species must thrive off of one another just like at Polyface, a farm engineered by Joel Salatin. This new method of farming puts the animals into a healthy environment in order for them to reach their full potential and play their part in the food chain. Michael Pollan, author of many nutritional books such as The Omnivore’s Dilemma, wrote about his experience alongside Salatin at his farm and the complex system he has designed. By composting all animal byproducts, this system eliminates waste instead of dumping it in bodies of water or fields like industrial farms have been doing for years, which is exposing humans to diseases and putting the environment at risk. Not only does it eliminate waste, but the animals are getting their nutrients to stay healthy, naturally instead of being given loads of antibiotics, which is causing the animals and the humans consuming them to become resistant. Although the system Salatin has designed may be complex and not always the most profitable, it creates a healthy and stable habitat to raise the animals and food we put on our dinner plates. Practicing this complexity may be more difficult, yet it yields more favorable results by focusing on every little aspect that helps sustain a natural ecosystem for the livestock we will soon consume. While simplification is more efficient and practicing complexity is not always the simplest method, the way food is being farmed now can put your health at risk, but this complex system is the most natural form of an ecosystem, which along with eliminating the need for pharmaceuticals and dumping grounds, gives them the opportunity to live a happy, healthy life to its fullest potential.

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A healthy lifestyle begins with the food you eat, and if the animals and agriculture the population survives off of are not being properly taken care of then they suffer as well. Although it may not yield as much product, a complex farming method that leaves behind no waste is not only efficient for the environment, but a person's health. PETA explains that there's a “link between exposure to the toxic chemicals found in animal waste and the development of neurological problems, including brain damage and depression.” A pattern is arising of people with neurological disorders that are also living near lagoons used to dump pig excrements (PETA). Industrial farming is not only a threat when consuming their products, but even to people with no solid connections to the industry. It's unfair that others suffer from careless dumping and farming. If a composting system with a full ecosystem of animals was used in their farming techniques there would be no threats to the outside world or people consuming their products. Salatin knew it would not be easy to maintain this type of farm, but he saw the benefits it held in the future and has eradicated the need for harmful antibiotics and manure storage. There is no need for antibiotics because the animals are living in a healthy ecosystem, rather than an industrial farm where you would find just a single kind of animal living in a confined area, which inevitably causes disease to spread. Not only do these antibiotics affect the animals, but they are passed down to humans when eaten, which can dull their immune system as well. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that “23,000 people die from antibioticresistant infections each year,” (Henneberger) and is said that meat that has been given too many antibiotics, is contributing to those numbers. Becoming resistant to these antibodies can cause significant problems for the future and will turn the sniffles into something much worse. Pollen explains, “At Polyface no one ever told me not to touch the animals, or asked me to put on a biohazard suit before going into the brooder house,” unlike at Petaluma Poultry, a

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monoculture farm because the animals at Polyface are not pumped with harmful chemicals. Why would you want to eat food that the farmers fear getting close to and feel the need to wear hazmat suits around? That can't be sanitary or something you would want to put into your body. The animals raised in a more complex system are able to stay healthy because they roam free, get the nutrients they need from the food they eat and maybe even some snacks while helping to compost. The efficiency of this farm not only keeps the animals chipper and strong but the people who will soon consume them and the products they produce as well. Industrial farms are known to use adverse agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals to keep their animals healthy in unsuitable conditions. Most of the time the livestock are kept in small pens and cages which can lead to disease and other complications, which are then counteracted with the use of numerous antibiotics and pharmaceuticals to insure a speedy growth. None of this sounds like it could be favorable to an animal's welfare and is especially frightening when you remember people like yourself with be consuming that. It is said that, “many factory farms routinely give low levels of antibiotics to animals, even if they aren’t sick,” (Factory Farm Map) and although unsaid, makes the animals grow to larger proportions, quicker, while preventing the spread of disease in crowded pens. In efforts to stop the misuse of antibiotics use in livestock, The New York Times has said that 25 pharmaceutical companies will no longer sell these drugs over the counter, but only when prescribed by a veterinarian (The Editorial Board). While there are regulations for organic farming and the use of antibiotics that does not apply to most of America’s food supply and does not take into consideration the well-being of the animal. You are not being told to give up meat because that is an important staple in most people's diets, but shouldn't it be more of a concern about what’s on your family's dinner plate? Sure, it tastes good, but it could be a whole lot more harmful than it is delicious.

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With Salatin’s method of farming, the animals are able to live happy and stress free lives at the farm and are fed copious amounts of food that they are able to enjoy. The quality of life for the food we will eat is just as important as the conditions they are kept in. You don’t want to eat a chicken that was fed slop and antibiotics for breakfast, but rather one that was fed a variety of grains and seeds and allowed to pick for bugs in the ground or out of the compost for some extra protein that is much needed. Animals are naturally accustomed to roam free and find nutrition for themselves. That is what keeps them happy. Wouldn't you rather consuming an animal that has lived a long and healthy life rather than one that's growth has been unnaturally sped up and cooped up in a cage all its life? The life our food lives reflects in the life we live. When you see food labeled as “cage-free”, “grass-fed” and “free-range” that’s not always the case and explained by Farm Sanctuary, a farming rescue and education advocacy. They claim that “even ‘cage-free’ hens are subject to many of the cruelties inherent to battery cage systems” and that they often “suffer de-beaking (Farm Sanctuary).” For those of you that could bring yourself to watch, there are always alarming videos surfacing on Facebook of what industrial farming is really like, yet many people still go to the grocery store after seeing them and chose a nice steak that has been injected with GMO’s and or a chicken that has been kept wing to wing with one another its whole life. All things considered, we need to start worrying more about the food we are eating rather than the prices we get it for. Its understood everyone is not able to afford organic meat or food that has lived a healthy lifestyle because with the complexity of the process comes price, but if all of America started processing their food like this at local farms and there were regulations put in place there would be no competition and the prices would decrease significantly making healthy food available for all. It is disgusting to think, all your life this is the type of food that

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you have been given, but it's time to make a change to this. Everyone needs to start worrying about what they are putting into their bodies and the bodies of their food. It is so much more efficient to not only the consumer's health but the environment, to develop farms with good intentions. You may not see it now but when an antibiotic resistant disease turns a common infection into a fatal one, you'll understand why it was so important to to be complex.

Works Cited Board, The Editorial. "Opinion | Antibiotic Use, and Abuse, on the Farms." The New York Times. The New York Times, 28 Mar. 2014. Web. 23 June 2017. . Henneberger, Melinda. "Feeding Antibiotics to Livestock Is Bad for Humans, but Congress Won't Stop It, New Report Says." The Washington Post. WP Company, 22 Oct. 2013.

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Web. 23 June 2017. . "Other Health Risks of the Meat Industry." PETA. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 June 2017. . "The Truth behind "Humane" Labels." Farm Sanctuary. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 June 2017. . "What's Wrong With Factory Farms?" Factory Farm Map. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 June 2017. ....