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Being a vegetarian has almost become a cornerstone of my identity both as an individual and as someone who belongs to a society where being one is considered “good”. This is not to say that I would judge someone who ate meat; but after really thinking about it I now feel that maybe not judging was my way of avoiding getting into a moral or ethical debate of any sort. In fact, after reading a substantial portion of Pollan’s book I am convinced that I would have gotten into a debate with a lot of people about the topic if I had decided to do any such thing. A topic which in hindsight I knew little or nothing about. I never really gave the idea that man was meant to be an omnivore much thought before I read the portion of the chapter explaining how if everyone of us became vegetarian there would be absolute chaos and pandemonium in the natural world. I had never before realized how intricately man in linked with nature or more accurately how nature is linked to man. When Pollan described how “The bison is a human artifact, for it was shaped by Indians”. The idea finally sunk in. While reading this book I often asked myself if I should really trust Pollan because he was literally almost asking me to judge myself. Sometimes, I almost felt that I had already been judged by Pollan. It was only when I read the part in the book where he decides to become a vegetarian just to see if that can help to answer some of his questions did I really start to trust him. I was amazed that a man who had eaten meat all his life was willing to give it up simply because he wanted gain some insight into the relevance of what he ate. Silly as that might sound, that was exactly when I started to trust him. "For, brief as it is, the life expectancy of a farm animal would be considerably briefer in the world beyond the pasture fence or chicken coop." Prior to reading this I never thought it possible for man to have a sort of symbiotic relationship with animals. Especially a relationship where one participant of the symbiotic relationship would actually be willing to give itself body, mind and soul(Sorry, I do believe that animals have souls, despite what Joel has to say about it.) to the other participant and yet when I think of it both from and evolutionary and survival point of view it makes complete sense. The animal would like to ensure its physical safety and as man is the most highly developed organism in the natural world, the animal would naturally like his protection. This would also ensure that its species continues into the next generation. According to Pollan "If there is any new right we need to establish, maybe this is the one: the right, I mean, to look” and after having done some thinking of my own, I couldn’t agree with him more. For it is only after seeing the entire life and eventual killing of the animal whose meat one is about to consume can one fully understand the magnitude of what is being placed before him. It is not just a slice of meat bought off the supermarket shelf, but an actual animal which was alive at one point of time.