--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This for many people is what is most…" description: "\"This for many people is what is most offensive about hunting—to some, disgusting: that it encourages, or allows, us not only to kill but to take a cert..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fd/michael-pollan-408_agriculture_this-for-many-people-is-what-is-most-off_1704330.jpg" --- # This for many people is what is most offensive about… ![“This for many people is what is most offensive about hunting—to some, disgusting: that it encourages, or allows, us not only to kill but to take a certain pleasure in killing. It's not as though the rest of us don't countenance the killing of tens of millions of animals every year. Yet for some…” quote by Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fd/michael-pollan-408_agriculture_this-for-many-people-is-what-is-most-off_1704330.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fd/michael-pollan-408_agriculture_this-for-many-people-is-what-is-most-off_1704330.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fd/michael-pollan-408_agriculture_this-for-many-people-is-what-is-most-off_1704330.jpg) > “This for many people is what is most offensive about hunting—to some, disgusting: that it encourages, or allows, us not only to kill but to take a certain pleasure in killing. It's not as though the rest of us don't countenance the killing of tens of millions of animals every year. Yet for some reason we feel more comfortable with the mechanical killing practiced, out of view and without emotion by industrial agriculture.” [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Hunting is seen as a personal, visceral act, while industrial killing is abstract and detached, creating a moral inconsistency. **In simple terms:** People feel hunting is more personal than factory killing. Key Takeaway Recognize hidden violence in food systems. Themes ethics environment food violence Mood reflective critical Type philosophical provocative When to use this quote - dinner conversations - policy debates - personal diet choices Key Concepts moral psychology industrial agriculture animal rights Questions to Reflect On - What responsibilities do consumers have? - How can we reconcile tradition with ethics? A Different Perspective Moral discomfort may be dismissed as cultural bias. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Agriculture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agriculture/) [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Certain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certain/) [Countenance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/countenance/) [Disgusting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disgusting/) [Emotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotion/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Hunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunting/) [Hunting Disgusting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunting-disgusting-1181802/) [Killing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/killing/) [Killing Practiced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/killing-practiced-1181805/) [Offensive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/offensive/) [Offensive Hunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/offensive-hunting-1181803/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Pleasure Killing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure-killing-1181804/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Views](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/views/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [This, for many people, is what's most offensive about hunting—to some, disgusting: that it encourages, or allows, us not only to kill but to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/this-for-many-people-is-what-s-most-offensive-about-hunting-to-some/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [“I did it all for me. Purely selfish. I worshiped the art and the act of death, over and over. It’s as simple as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-nilsen/i-did-it-all-for-me-purely-selfish-i-worshiped-the-art-and-the-act-of/) [Dennis Nilsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-nilsen/) > [It is only the inexperienced and thoughtless who find pleasure in killing fish for the mere sake of killing them. No sportsman does this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-cowper-prime/it-is-only-the-inexperienced-and-thoughtless-who-find-pleasure-in/) [William Cowper Prime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-cowper-prime/) > [People forget that eating represents their most profound engagement with the natural world. Through agriculture is how we change the world, more than anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/people-forget-that-eating-represents-their-most-profound-engagement/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [A program to make municipal composting of food and yard waste mandatory and then distributing the compost free to area farmers would shrink America's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/a-program-to-make-municipal-composting-of-food-and-yard-waste/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [Those externalized costs have always included labor. It is only the decline over time of the minimum wage in real dollars that's made the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/those-externalized-costs-have-always-included-labor-it-is-only-the/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [If we're eating industrially, if we're letting large corporations, fast food chains, cook our food, we're going to have a huge, industrialized, monoculture agriculture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/if-we-re-eating-industrially-if-we-re-letting-large-corporations-fast/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [If you fill your Agriculture Committee with representatives of commodity farmers, and you don't have urbanites, you don't represent eaters, okay? You don't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/if-you-fill-your-agriculture-committee-with-representatives-of/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [To a very great extent, it's the fast-food industry that really industrialized our agriculture - that drove the system to one variety of chicken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/to-a-very-great-extent-it-s-the-fast-food-industry-that-really/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [The best farming systems are ones where animals and plants are put into a synergistic relationship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/the-best-farming-systems-are-ones-where-animals-and-plants-are-put/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [Growing corn, which from a biological perspective had always been a process of capturing sunlight to turn into food, has in no small measure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/growing-corn-which-from-a-biological-perspective-had-always-been-a/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [At this point in history when all things which concern man and the structure and elements of history itself are suddenly revealed to us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-mannheim/at-this-point-in-history-when-all-things-which-concern-man-and-the/) [Karl Mannheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-mannheim/) > [Our communications reflect in our countenance. Therefore, we must be careful not only what we communicate, but also how we do so. Souls can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-lionel-kendrick/our-communications-reflect-in-our-countenance-therefore-we-must-be/) [L. Lionel Kendrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-lionel-kendrick/) > [First impressions are often the truest, as we find (not infrequently) to our cost, when we have been wheedled out of them by plausible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/first-impressions-are-often-the-truest-as-we-find-not-infrequently-to/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [We can see nothing whatever of the soul unless it is visible in the expression of the countenance; one might call the faces at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/we-can-see-nothing-whatever-of-the-soul-unless-it-is-visible-in-the/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) ## More by Michael Pollan > [“In the same way that the picturesque designers were always careful to include some reminder of our mortality in their gardens -- a ruin,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/in-the-same-way-that-the-picturesque-designers-were-always-careful-to/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [My hope is that if people have the knowledge, and if they actually see where their food comes from and have access to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/my-hope-is-that-if-people-have-the-knowledge-and-if-they-actually-see/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [The problem is that we let special-occasion food become everyday food. That goes for soda and french fries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/the-problem-is-that-we-let-special-occasion-food-become-everyday-food/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [Every peasant cuisine has incredible ingenious tricks for getting a lot of nutrition out of a small amount of ingredients. There are people who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/every-peasant-cuisine-has-incredible-ingenious-tricks-for-getting-a/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [“In ancient Greece, the word for “cook,” “butcher,” and “priest” was the same—mageiros—and the word shares an etymological root with “magic.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/in-ancient-greece-the-word-for-cook-butcher-and-priest-was-the-same/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [In the end I'm still a writer. I'm still a journalist, and my first responsibility is to my readers. That's where I have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/in-the-end-i-m-still-a-writer-i-m-still-a-journalist-and-my-first/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [Seeds have the power to preserve species, to enhance cultural as well as genetic diversity, to counter economic monopoly and to check the advance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/seeds-have-the-power-to-preserve-species-to-enhance-cultural-as-well/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [“The bubble logic driving tulipomania has since acquired a name: “the greater fool theory.” Although by any conventional measure it is folly to pay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/the-bubble-logic-driving-tulipomania-has-since-acquired-a-name-the/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [“Of the seven deadly sins, surely it is pride that most afflicts the gardener.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/of-the-seven-deadly-sins-surely-it-is-pride-that-most-afflicts-the/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [Growing corn, which from a biological perspective had always been a process of capturing sunlight to turn into food, has in no small measure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/growing-corn-which-from-a-biological-perspective-had-always-been-a/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [Eat with consciousness. When you eat with consciousness, and you know what you're eating, and you eat it in full appreciation of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/eat-with-consciousness-when-you-eat-with-consciousness-and-you-know/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [This is part of human nature, the desire to change consciousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/this-is-part-of-human-nature-the-desire-to-change-consciousness/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [“...whenever I hear people say clean food is expensive, I tell them it's actually the cheapest food you can buy. That always gets their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/whenever-i-hear-people-say-clean-food-is-expensive-i-tell-them-it-s/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [“Imagine if we had a food system that actually produced wholesome food. Imagine if it produced that food in a way that restored the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/imagine-if-we-had-a-food-system-that-actually-produced-wholesome-food/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [“CONSULT YOUR GUT.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/consult-your-gut/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) [Explore all 584 Michael Pollan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) ## More Agriculture quotes > [Advances in technology will continue to reach far into every sector of our economy. Future job and economic growth in industry, defense, transportation, agriculture,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bond/advances-in-technology-will-continue-to-reach-far-into-every-sector/) [Christopher Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bond/) > [To husband is to use with care, to keep, to save, to make last, to conserve. Old usage tells us that there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/to-husband-is-to-use-with-care-to-keep-to-save-to-make-last-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [As the first Member of Congress from western Washington to serve on the House Agriculture Committee in over 50 years, I am proud to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-larsen/as-the-first-member-of-congress-from-western-washington-to-serve-on/) [Rick Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-larsen/) > [Conventional agriculture has never succeeded in feeding the world, and it's never produced anything good to eat. For the future, we need to look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-barber/conventional-agriculture-has-never-succeeded-in-feeding-the-world-and/) [Dan Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-barber/) > [I would say my fraternity was nothing but a bunch of farm boys; we weren't really in the whole fraternity scene, but yeah, that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-bryan/i-would-say-my-fraternity-was-nothing-but-a-bunch-of-farm-boys-we/) [Luke Bryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-bryan/) > [I grew up in Italy, and our country is a country of great agriculture and food produce. It wasn't like I was urban and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabella-rossellini/i-grew-up-in-italy-and-our-country-is-a-country-of-great-agriculture/) [Isabella Rossellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabella-rossellini/) > [Farmers, get out your sense of humor. Congress meets to relieve you again next week.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/farmers-get-out-your-sense-of-humor-congress-meets-to-relieve-you/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [Because Iran understands Afghanistan far better than Americans do, making Iran a partner in a long-term effort to transform Afghan agriculture makes sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-kinzer/because-iran-understands-afghanistan-far-better-than-americans-do/) [Stephen Kinzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-kinzer/) > [Sara Scherr and Jeff McNeely have given us a thoughtful, sensible book about a topic of great importance to the world. There is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ismail-serageldin/sara-scherr-and-jeff-mcneely-have-given-us-a-thoughtful-sensible-book/) [Ismail Serageldin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ismail-serageldin/) > [People want development, modern thinking. They want to encourage and support research in agriculture and other fields.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharad-pawar/people-want-development-modern-thinking-they-want-to-encourage-and/) [Sharad Pawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharad-pawar/) > [Growing corn, which from a biological perspective had always been a process of capturing sunlight to turn into food, has in no small measure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/growing-corn-which-from-a-biological-perspective-had-always-been-a/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [When politicians talk of loan waiver, they are accepting that agriculture is not economically viable. They are giving a wrong signal that farming is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-s-swaminathan/when-politicians-talk-of-loan-waiver-they-are-accepting-that/) [M. S. Swaminathan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-s-swaminathan/) > [Nitrogen-based fertilizers, which came into wide use after World War II, helped prompt the agricultural revolution that has allowed the Earth to feed its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tatiana-schlossberg/nitrogen-based-fertilizers-which-came-into-wide-use-after-world-war/) [Tatiana Schlossberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tatiana-schlossberg/) > [Agriculture is one economic activity that does not obey the laws of demand and supply.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/agriculture-is-one-economic-activity-that-does-not-obey-the-laws-of/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [More than a mere alternative strategy, regenerative agriculture represents a fundamental shift in our culture’s relationship to nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-eisenstein/more-than-a-mere-alternative-strategy-regenerative-agriculture/) [Charles Eisenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-eisenstein/) [Browse all 889 Agriculture quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agriculture/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "This for many people is what is most offensive about hunting—to some, disgusting: that it encourages, or allows, us not only to kill but to take a certain pleasure in killing. It's not as though the rest of us don't countenance the killing of tens of millions of animals every year. Yet for some reason we feel more comfortable with the mechanical killing practiced, out of view and without emotion by industrial agriculture.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michael Pollan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/this-for-many-people-is-what-is-most-offensive-about-hunting-to-some/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Agriculture" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/this-for-many-people-is-what-is-most-offensive-about-hunting-to-some/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fd/michael-pollan-408_agriculture_this-for-many-people-is-what-is-most-off_1704330.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fd/michael-pollan-408_agriculture_this-for-many-people-is-what-is-most-off_1704330.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fd/michael-pollan-408_agriculture_this-for-many-people-is-what-is-most-off_1704330.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“This for many people is what is most offensive about hunting—to some, disgusting: that it encourages, or…” — Michael Pollan", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Michael Pollan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "This for many people is what...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/this-for-many-people-is-what-is-most-offensive-about-hunting-to-some/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/this-for-many-people-is-what-is-most-offensive-about-hunting-to-some/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```