| Description |
I present a critical rhetorical analysis that examines appeals made by farmer and author, Joel Salatin. I analyze Salatin's rhetoric as it is widely available across media, while specifically focusing upon his two most recent books: Folks, this ain't Normal (2011) and The Sheer Ecstasy of being a Lunatic Farmer (2010). My rhetorical analysis seeks to answer the following questions: first, how does Salatin rhetorically structure his vision for a new agrarian establishment centered on localized food production, which would counter industrial agriculture and its global food trade; and, second, what are the implications as varied food movements work from Salatin's ideological commitments via invoking his rhetorical imaginary and utilizing his material practices? I assert that Salatin constructs a rhetorical imaginary of alternative food production that synthesizes conservative and progressive imperatives relevant to production and consumption, which is accomplished and mobilized via his invocation of terroir. Specifically, Salatin articulates an organizing metaphor of Christianity as the soil of life. I argue that Salatin's rhetorical imaginary of alternative food production results in a hybridized discourse that merges neoliberal and progressive imperatives. I seek to contribute to critical rhetorical theory via both extending and challenging current conceptions with respect to how neoliberalism is manifest and operationalized in contemporary contexts; as well as, more broadly, via illuminating further evolutions, intersections, and materializations of discourse. |
