Zinczenko doesn’t include naysayers that oppose him. Since obesity has grown at an alarming rate in the last decade in the United States, people have noticed this issue and tried to look for ways to fix it. A lot of opinions have been discussed; however, even with the existence of such radical thoughts, Zinczenko doesn’t mention any of them. A counter argument that he can include is Radley Balko’s work in his article “What You Eat is Your Business”. He argues that people are responsible for their own diet because they choose what to eat. Throughout his essay, he makes many accusations with not much elaborations and he also keeps pointing an angry finger at the government. According to him, “Instead of manipulating or intervening in the array …show more content…
He believes that the government should make consumers responsible for their choices instead of trying to change what foods are accessible to consumers. In addition, he suggests that “The best way to alleviate the obesity ‘public health’ crisis is to remove obesity from the realm of public health” (468). In other words, Balko thinks that obesity wouldn’t be such a great public issue if we made it the personal issue that it is. Throughout his article, he relies on his opinion without providing any numbers for the readers. On the contrary, Zinczenko uses a lot of statistics and data to support his argument. I find the technique that he uses to support his argument very weak and unprofessional. I also think that some of the ideas he is discussing are invalid. For instance, I disagree with him that obesity should be considered a personal health issue instead of a public issue because I believe that many people in our country are struggling with obesity and, although it does not directly affect me, it is a very serious issue that need to be taken into consideration because it affects other people’s health and lives. Zinczenko not including any counter arguments in his essay makes it seems as if he is afraid of criticism and opposition which weakens his
Zinczenko also claims that the fast-food industry should be responsible to the public for its large scale. He mentions fast-foods has more competitiveness than natural food because its industry provides the public more convenient accesses to its products. Zinczenko mentioned there are over 13000 McDonald’s restaurants in the U.S. to reveal the difference of competitiveness between fast-foods and real foods. He mentioned this leads the public to the situation of lack of alternatives of fast food. Also, the misleading and confusing labels of foodish products makes the situation even more complicated because the public actually do not know what they are purchasing.
In the essay, “Don’t Blame the Eater”, David Zinczenko, editor-in-chief of Men’s Health magazine, discusses the recent lawsuits against fast-food chains. He does not deny that there should be a sense of personal responsibility among the public, but has sympathy for the kid consumers because he used to be one. Zinczenko argues that due to the lack of nutritional facts and health warnings, it’s not so ridiculous to blame the fast-food industry for obesity problems.
Rhetorical Analysis of Radley Balko’s “What You Eat Is Your Business” In May of 2004, Radley Balko, a self-described libertarian, wrote the essay “What You Eat Is Your Business” directly to American consumers on the Cato Institute website. Balko has also written for the Washington Post, and is the author of the book Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces (2013). Balko brought attention to the fact that obesity is not the government’s issue but solely the responsibility of the individual.
Whether or not a person wants a burger and french-fries’ or a salad from the salad bar, the decision should be up to him/her. Two articles share views on food, “What You Eat Is Your Business” by Radley Balko and “Junking Junk Food” by Judith Warner. These two authors wrote articles about how they felt about food and how it’s related to obesity. However, Radley Balko would not approve of Judith Warner’s views on food for the reason that the two authors have different viewpoints on the aspect of the government helping people to make better food choices. Warner and Balko also has different views on the ideas which are that eating is a psychological matter; and eating healthy should be a personal matter.
The writer also tries to get the audience attention from his point of view like I explained a little earlier about how he was obese and there wasn’t much he can do until he was in college and it helped him out and changed his life right after which was very lucky because he could of ended up being obese his entire life like other people in the world. Zinczenko also uses some Logos in his writing because he uses hard facts and statistics about how diabetes was a genetic disorder and it was around 5 percent, but now it has gone up to 30 percent of all the children cases in diabetes in this country we live in. Also, money wisely has skyrocketed into treating diabetes and the cost in 1969 was about 2.6 billion dollars, but now its up to 100 billion dollars a year which is a total difference of 97.4 billion dollars. He doesn’t hesitate to make his point into the article he wrote and of course he used logical reasoning into doing it and so that’s how he basically used
This information helps to build the appeals of ethos as the Cato Institute is an established American public policy research organization. After establishing reasonable credibility, Balko then announces a special program called “How to Get Fat without Really Trying,” an event that Balko called a pep rally for media, nutrition activists, and policy makers all eager for an array of government anti-obesity initiatives. In the second paragraph, Balko brings to the reader’s attention the President Bush earmarked $200 million in his budget for anti-obesity measures. Along with the President’s actions, Senator Joe and Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, among others, “have called for a ‘fat tax’ on high-calorie foods” (Balko). UTA students and the readers of The Shorthorn would be greatly concerned with having a ‘fat tax’ on high-calorie foods. Students tend to eat high calorie foods, because it’s cheaper and easier to ahold of, but if the government succeeded in adding a ‘fat tax, there will be
There are more ways to shun obesity. Michael Pollan, who wrote “Escape from the western diet”, claims that the fast food industry is one of the main reasons why people struggle with their health. He believes that the processed food we consume gives us harmful deceases. Pollan urges us to listen to his words to avoid the western diet, he preaches that we should start eating healthier and to put more time and effort when it comes to buying food. Pollan provides us with his rules as well and claims that it will help us plot our way out of the western diet. Also, Pollan informs us that when it to the intake we tend to over eat, thus it becomes a huge threat to our health. The government has also made an attempt to put a stop to obesity by inverting an array of food options. By focusing on the main causes of obesity, Pollan overlooks the deeper problem of the lack of insufficient information, thus he leaves us with a lot of question marks .
In the essay, “What You Eat is Your Business”, Radley Balko writes to tell his audience about how the government is trying to control people’s health and eating habits by restricting food, taxing high calorie food, and considering menu labeling. Balko includes in his essay that government restricting diets and having socialist insurance is not helping the obesity problem, but it is only making it worse because it not allowing people to take their health in to their own hands so they have no drive to lose weight or eat healthy. In his essay, Balko is targeting society, including those who may be obese, he is trying to show them that the laws our
Weight is a part of every human beings life. Every one weights something. In society, it is commonly found that people mistakenly judge their health based on their weight. America has thousands of health experts and nutritionist who claim themselves as protectors of health, “helping a nation stricken with heart disease, diabetes, and cancer” (Maxville 443). They believe that eating is simply for fueling the body and you should eat mostly plants, but not too much. Maxville uses the vast theory of health experts to tie in the point that, “each of these maladies is tied to our diet and essentially our weight. As a culture we no longer discuss healthy eating without also discussing unhealthy weights” (Maxville 444). While Maxville believes that the bigger issue is not weight, but linking nutrition and body type. While, Pollan warns readers of eating too much, he never mentions that it is equally as fatal to eat too little. Pollan states in his essay that overeating is the “greatest threat” to our survival. Maxville uses Pollan’s statements on the topic of weight to prove that being unhealthy should not be tied solely to being overweight, because being under weight is equally unhealthy. To further discredit the claims Pollan makes linking weight to health, Maxville states, “A growing group of academics who
“The Cato Institute’s” Policy analyst, Radley Balko, in his article “What You Eat Is Your Business,” talks about the idea of obesity and whose fault it is. Balko’s purpose is to convey the idea that obesity is the individual’s responsibility, not the government’s or anyone else’s for that matter. Ultimately, Balko’s “What You Eat Is Your Business” has a strong hold on ethos, pathos, and logos, making for a successful and persuasive article.
In Radley Balko’s essay “What You Eat Is Your Business,” Balko argues that what we put into our bodies is our business, not the government’s, and that personal responsibility should be primary in our nutrition choices. I agree wholeheartedly. However, while I do agree that personal responsibility is paramount, in the new age of the Affordable Care Act (which had not been implemented prior to Balko’s writing), it is becoming hard to say that the government should stay out of my business, when healthcare is now, by law, the government’s business. Critics of personal choice argue, like David Zinczenko does in his essay “Don’t Blame the Eater,”. These two authors both help me understand each other that the government must regulate the fast food industry similar to how they regulate the tobacco companies. How absurd it is that the government needs to regulate my waistline?
First off, in Radley Balko essay, “What You Eat Is Your Business” he thinks people need to start being responsible for their actions, because maybe it will help people from being so obese. Health Insurances should reward people for having a health style. Radley Balko talks about that if someone is paying for his health medicines, what is stopping him from not having something unhealthy (467). Nutritional testing is being conducted on restaurants by Congress (Balko 467).
The personal experience Zinczenko's includes in his text many people can relate who have been or are going through a similar situation. At this stage we can view imagery in the text as the reader I can picture a young boy being lazy,laying in bed which is perhaps gaining weight constantly and many dangerous diseases on the long run. The author is a very smart intiligual writer that acquires the reader to have trust in him by sharing his experience and how he overcame his struggles and why he believes fast food restaurants are the main reason the nation youth suffers from over weight and diabetes.
Zinczenko ate a lot of fast food when he was younger because that is what his mother could afford. There are countless people in this situation. People also go to fast food restaurants because it is convenient, cheap, and on the go. The problem is that these ‘restaurants’ do not sell quality food as they advertise on TV, radio, and online. They sell cheap, processed foods that cause health problems to their consumers without them knowing.
Balko begins by introducing some of the policy the government put in place to response to the obesity epidemic in our country. He states that “For decades now, America's health care system has been moving towards socialism.” He cites President Bush’s decision to assign $200 million to anti-obesity measure and congress attempt to implement menu-labeling in to a law is a wrong approach to take on obesity. Balko state that the government policies are “bringing the government between you and your waistline” (396). In his opinion, “This is the wrong way to fight obesity” (Balko). He argues that our government should be focused on fostering personal responsibility and accountability among the public concerning individual health. He feels that consumers should take some responsibility of what they eat. Giving this example, “We’re becoming less responsible for our own health, and more responsible for everyone else’s” (Balko). He argues that obesity should be taken out of