Rhetorical Analysis Of Mark Bittman's Article 'Is Junk Food Really Cheaper'

In the article, “Is Junk Food Really Cheaper,” Bittman states that it is cheaper to buy healthier food from the grocery store than it is to eat as fast food. Mark Bittman uses rhetorical appeals known as Logos, Pathos, and Ethos and rhetorical fallacies throughout his article. He then supports his claim by stating evidence from other credible sources and his own opinion. The purpose of this article is to inform and encourage parents or young adults to cook more instead of eating out. The author informs us about our way of thinking and that real cultural changes are needed to be made. Bittman then starts to cover all other aspects by saying in order to cook more you don’t have to buy the expensive organic food but yet you can go to the supermarket …show more content…
In the article “Is junk food cheaper?” the author states his claim at the beginning of the article by saying “junk food is not cheaper in terms of the actual cost” (Bittman, 2011) followed up by the claim he states supporting points saying “It’s more affordable to feed a family of four at McDonalds than to cook a healthy meal for them at home” (Bittman 2011). Bittman then provides evidence to back up his claim “a typical family of four can easily spend $28 dollars on average than cooked food at home, which can run you about $14 feeding between four to six people” (Bittman, 2011). The article is very well put together Bittman covered all sides of the argument and qualifying his claims. The author brought up all aspects and sides to the argument for example, Bittman stated “In comparing prices of real food and junk food, I used supermarket ingredients, not the pricier organic or local food that many people would consider ideal” (Bittman, 2011). Another example of how he talked about all aspects “In recent decades the adjusted for inflation price of fresh produce has increased by 40 percent, while the price of soda and processed food and processed food has decreased by as much as 30 percent…” (Bittman, …show more content…
He also uses this as a counter argument because he begins to contradict himself when he says “the fact that junk food is cheaper than real food has become a reflexive part of how we explain why so many Americans are overweight, particularly those with lower incomes” (Bittman, 2011) because throughout the article he goes into detail explaining how eating fast food isn’t really cheaper and that buying groceries is actually the best output because you spend less. Another counter argument is when Bittman states “a meal of real food cooked at home can easily contain more calories, most of them of the “healthy” variety” (Bittman, 2011). The author’s main purpose of this article is to try to get the audience to cook more at home instead of eating out but at the same time the amount of calories between cooking a meal at home and going out can be equal or possibly more if the audience wants to eat healthier or less calories. There really isn’t a difference other than cost