The Omnivore's Dilemma: Part III

The meadows were dotted with contented animals.

Joel calls the hens his “sanitation crew.” In the pasture, they pick tasty grubs and fly larvae out of the cowpats.

These roots survive through the winter and then start growing new leaves in the spring. Plants that do this are called perennials because they come back year after year.

Because these seeds are edible, human beings took these annuals and helped them spread across the globe.

After a moment of hesitation, the cows began to move, first singly, then two by two, and then all eighty of them sauntered into the new pasture, brushing past us as they looked around for their favorite grasses.

A mixture of tall and short plants means that more of the solar energy that falls on the pasture is turned into growth. Biodiversity also means the pasture is green almost all year long.

“The farm had been abused by tenant farmers for 150 years,” Joel said.

In many places there was no topsoil left whatsoever — just outcroppings of granite and clay.

The Eggmobile is one of Joel’s proudest innovations. It looks like a cross between a henhouse and a covered wagon from the old west.

Why does Joel want fermented corn in his manure pile? Because there’s nothing a pig enjoys more than getting tipsy on corn, and there’s nothing a pig is better equipped to do than root it out with his powerful snout and exquisite sense of smell.

“Slaughter is dehumanizing work if you have to do it every day. Processing but a few days a month means we can actually think about what we’re doing,” he continued, “and be as careful and humane as possible.”

Agribusiness has bombarded us with the message that all pork is pork, all chicken is chicken.

"Slow food is good, clean and fair food, we believe that the food we eat should taste good; that it should be produced in a clean way that does not harm the environment, animal welfare or our health; and that food producers should receive fair compensation for their work."

"Slow food is good, clean and fair food, we believe that the food we eat should taste good; that it should be produced in a clean way that does not harm the environment, animal welfare or our health; and that food producers should receive fair compensation for their work."

I had decided to brine the chicken — a soak in saltwater brine causes meat to absorb moisture and breaks down the proteins that can toughen it on the grill.