food for thought

          Mark Bittman presents quite the argument in defense of the healthy home-cooked meal that rarely makes its way onto the American dinner table. His use of the three appeals definitely brings out the key points of his argument, but also highlights the weaknesses. The first few paragraphs of this essay rehash his career as a food journalist and author, so the Ethos appeal leads the reader to trust him because of his authority in this field. Having said that, this isn't a food review. This is a piece on trends in American consumption, obesity, animal cruelty, and ethical eating. At least for me, Ethos wasn't the most powerful appeal in this piece. I think the Logos Bittman uses in the essay makes more of an impact. He points out that the only country that eats out more (and arguably as poorly) as we do is Japan. The invention and popularization of the microwave and the growing frozen food industry lead to just as much laziness in food preparation. The rise Americans saw in the speed of food, like fast food, casual dining chains, and frozen food, was matched by the rush to maturity experienced by the animals used for production. Fowl were force-fed to make foods like foie gras much faster and cows are machine-fed and probably never leave the confines of a pen. This appeal can be very closely relates to the Pathos the author uses, since such imagery and statistics are disappointing to hear. Nobody wants to think of themselves and their friends as the immobile, shake-sipping WALL-E humans that Bittman suggests we could all become. The animals not lucky enough to be raised free-range are sentenced to a life of isolation, a devastating image to think about. As an athlete, I'm one of those people who thinks of food as fuel. What you put into your body will show when you put it to the test. The other factor in my food decisions that Bittman fails to mention is money. Eating in a healthy, local, free-range, fresh way is expensive. Poor college kids can't always afford to buy organic, and when the salad at McD's is $7.50 and the McChicken is $1, there's not much of a decision to be made. It's hard to think about animal cruelty when you're starving and on a budget.