David Zinczenko's 'Don't Blame the Eater' : A Rhetorical Analysis

In the article, “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko argues it is the fast food industry’s fault for the nation 's growing obesity epidemic. Furthermore, he believes people should not be blamed for their own obesity. Zinczenko argues fast-food is much more available to the fast paced lifestyle people live in rather than consuming healthy alternatives. He also discusses the fact so many people are on a low budget, it is then best and more inexpensive for them to consume fast-food. Zinczenko states a claim that the fast-food industry “would do well to protect themselves, and their customers, by providing the nutrition information people need” (Zinczenko 464). In other words, he is saying that fast food establishments do not advertise enough

The Ad gives out a message saying, “When everyone is a foodie, no one should go hungry.” The phrase not only gives an emotional sadness, heartbreaking views of what is out in the world today. The kitchen so bright and the walls so dark, falls into hope and evil. A girl outside the building looks cold and hungry, and it gives the readers purpose of the writer establishment. The writer is trying to persuade the readers that everyone loves to eat, and why not share our wealth of being a foodie, so no one goes hungry.

In this particular essay ”Don’t Blame the Eater”, David Zinczenko informs the reader about the hazardous of fast food by using a great balance of argumentation. Through his contention, he demonstrates to his reader that the consumer is not so much at blame the food industry is the genuine offender here. His utilization of inquiries all through the content, alongside personal narrative, imagery, and his tone, Zinczenko has the capacity adequately contend against the control of the food industry.

Morgan Spurlock, an American Independent Filmmaker embarked on an experiment of eating only McDonalds for thirty days. He documented his findings in a documentary titled “Supersize Me” As a result, Spurlock gained nearly twenty-five pounds, and his body mass increased almost fifteen percent. The reason behind Spurlock’s investigation was to identify the problem with our countries rise in obesity, largely contributed to a lack of fresh and healthy food being available. Obesity is an epidemic plaguing our country ever so quickly and one of the biggest reasons for it is many communities don’t have access to fresh food, and in many times that food if available exceeds the families budget. The United States Department of Agriculture (1) defines

The memoir, The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, centers around her unorthodox childhood, with her parents avoiding parental responsibilities and acting in accordance to their non-conformist beliefs. During some events in the book, responsibility is seen as equal to self-sufficiency in this book, and Rex and Rose Mary encourages Jeannette and the other children to look out for themselves instead of depending on others. Even though Jeannette’s parents were irresponsible and reckless, they managed to instill responsible, independent, self-sufficient qualities within Jeannette, creating a well-adjusted child.

In David Freedman’s essay How Junk food Can End Obesity, Freedman makes the claim to policy arguing that instead of demonizing processed foods, Americans should instead support the idea and production of healthier processed and junk foods. He calls on the public to recognize that while many products on the market these days are labeled as “wholesome” and “healthy”, consumers should learn to become aware of the fat and calorie content in these products because many times they have the same- if not more- fat and calorie contents as that of a typical Big Mac or Whopper. In his essay, Freedman primarily places blame on the media and the wholesome food movement for the condemnation of the fast and processed food industries saying, “An enormous amount of media space has been dedicated to promoting the notion that all processed food, and only processed food, us making us sickly and overweight” (Freedman), he further expresses that this portrayal of the

“Don’t Blame the Eater”, written by David Zinczenko, is a short article discussing how fast food is the main cause of childhood obesity. This article came about in relations to two kids filing a lawsuit against McDonalds for making them fat. He begins his piece by sympathizing with these individuals because he used to be like them. Zinczenko then informs the reader of his background and how he fell into the category of being dependent upon quick and easy meals. In an attempt to provide a valid argument, he debates on how kids raise themselves while their parents are at work and that the nutritional values are not labeled upon prepared foods. Thus, creating confusion on what consumers are actually taking in calorie-wise. Instead of blaming the

According to Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, the U.S. Department of Agriculture carries out programs of research, education, conservation, forestry, marketing, credit, export expansion, food distribution, production adjustment, grading and inspection, and development of rural areas ("Agriculture, Department of."). Nearly 100,000 people make up twenty-nine different agencies within the USDA. These people do their part to participate in the agricultural act of eating that Wendell Berry talks about in The Pleasures of Eating. Wendell Berry argues the importance of eating responsibly using the following rhetorical devices: pathos, ethos, repetition, and imagery.

For different people, comparable situations do not always reproduce the same end results or leave the same impressions. Rather, the resulting conclusion is often highly variable. As is the case of two labors featured in the poems, My Father’s Lunch” and “The life of a Digger”. While Erica Funkhouser’s speaker, Henry, experiences injustice and lack of reward for his hard labor in “The Life of a Digger,” Margarita Engle’s speaker experiences prosperity and remuneration for their father’s hard work in “My Father’s Lunch.” Each author uses the setting of a laboring man’s lunch break to demonstrate the ramifications of a hard day’s work and the rewards or lack thereof for their efforts.

The one thing that any author must do when writing any sort of essay is to make it comprehensible to the reader. In order to achieve this, the author must utilize anything to get their point across or else the writing would be futile. In Turkeys in the Kitchen , Dave Barry gives his own personal stories about his Thanksgiving and how he feels that men aren’t as useful as women in the terms of the culinary arts (kitchen), Barry’s flippant tone and his use of rhetorical devices such as similes and irony bring forth a light hearted explanation of stereotypes between men and women as well as describing how men are useless in the kitchen.

Zinczenko’s article was written with the rhetorical stratedgy of pathos in mind. Zinczenko strategically uses emotional pathos through his example of obesity in children. Children are innocent in tone, therefore helping him explain that they are innocent in spite of the manipulation of the fast food industry. The author presents the issue of the lack of nutrition information in fast food. He’s not dissing the fast food industry; rather, he is stating the problem at hand that should be taken care of. He sympathizes with the fact that he too was once a kid whose two daily meals were from typical fast food restaurants. (892) Zinczenko argues that America has failed to give a solution or better alternative, and because of that fact, has

Schlosser argues America’s lives are solely based off of fast food. Throughout his writing he describes how common it is in our society in which fast food is ordered, sold, and consumed. Everywhere you go, every glimpse you take, every corner you pass, fast food is being sold everywhere. Schlosser describes throughout his text the commonality of fast food in restaurants, airports, schools, and large chained stores available nationwide, in which each compress the similarity of fast food. Not only does he include how common fast food is in an American’s life, but he describes how Americans will spend more of their money in their wallet on fast food than they would on other livelihood essentials. He includes how vastly the economy has been effected

Aaron Schultz, who founded the Game Changer movement to eliminate fast-food ads in sports, calls himself a “normal dad that’s got concerns about unhealthy products being pushed to my children.” He is pushing for food retailers to give more detailed information about what goes into their products, like ingredients and food sources, and its possible effects on the health of consumers. “We’re heading down the wrong path at a rapid rate. Certainly food labeling is a key step to people making informed decisions on what they’re eating,” Schultz says. “We don’t have the capacity for people to make informed decisions because there’s no labeling.” One of his goals is to include warning labels on fast-food containers, graphically illustrating potential consequences for consumers, like heart disease and obesity. The labels would mirror the graphic images commonly featured on cigarette packaging in countries like the U.S., Australia, and Canada.To evaluate whether fast food restaurants should provide consumers with adequate warnings regarding the unhealthy consequences of eating certain food, there must a determination of whether fast food restaurants have an obligation to make their customers aware of these consequences. If the restaurants owe a duty to their customers to provide warnings associated with items on their menus, the restaurant

Delving into details, Ziczenko describes how countless fast food articles lack bold “warning” labels to convey the toxic consequences of the food. However, Zinczenko fails to assess the abundance of systematic information discovered on virtually all big box restaurants’ websites. Clear and loaded with knowledge of products is the example of McDonald’s online menu, which describes almost every imaginable aspect of the food items. Moreover, Zinczenko evades mentioning how all individuals hold inherent common sense towards which types of food would be more beneficial to themselves. From the innocent kindergartener to the wise World War Two veteran and all people in between readily realize a grilled chicken salad and a glass of water are exponentially healthier than a refried, jumbo-sized, chicken nugget combo. When individuals choose to put down the greasy cheeseburger and pick up a refreshing chicken wrap instead, drastic positive transformations in general health, energy level, and quality of life begin to materialize. Although this metamorphosis requires consistency and time, the profits once achieved are invaluable. Countering Zinczenko’s claim of corporations being the culprits behind widespread national obesity is the dissemination of nutritional information and the logical enforcement of common

Fast food places is a way to not cook every week I feel bad for people when I go to McDonald’s and ask them, do you know what you’re eating in they say yes so I ask them, is that burger real such as real beef’ they say yes so I have to explain to them that you’re not eating real beef you’re eating a burger that has a lot of chemicals in it. They look at me crazy but they get mad because when they start to get sick and gain weight, it’s because of the fast food they`re eating. “Our government ought to be working to foster a sense of responsibility, in and ownership of our own health”. Balko (What you eat is your business, 2004).