Introduction
In today’s society, we are faced with environmental challenges because our farming practices are not sustainable. Dan Barber’s article “Why Cooking Matters” first appeared in 2009 edition of the Nation. He also uses the introduction to manage the rhetorical distance between him and the audience by establishing his authority, while not presenting himself as superior. He then uses the body of the essay to logically appeal to the audience. He establishes credibility through his literary citation in the seventh paragraph. Dan uses emotional and dramatic language so as to engrave a lasting impression on the audience. This language appeals to the audience’s sympathies and imagination.
Thesis
In this essay, Dan aims to convince his readers that the campaign for food security should start from the preparation of food for cooking. He persuades his audience to change their menu and use the whole animal so as to realize savings and conserve the environment.
Body
Dan is a chef and a co-owner at Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns. In his introduction, Dan concentrates on creating an ethical appeal to the audience. Dan begins to strengthen his moral character by explaining the reasons behind why cooking matters argument. His efforts create a sense of good-will between him and his audience. To enhance the credibility of his claims, Dan quotes from Paul Robert’s book which calls this “protein paradox”. This allows Dan to identify with the audience and enhance his credibility.
Dan does a grammatical transition from one person to a third person thus creating a we-they relationship. This helps Dan to persuade his audience to agree with his argument and creates an equal relationship and earns him good-will from the audience.
Dan uses the body of his essay to appeal logically to the audience by examining the impact of unsustainable meat production and explaining the reasoning behind his argument. He uses logical content or reasoning in the essay when urges people to eat responsibly and conserve the environment. This he says; can be done if people are aware of other eating cultures of the world where meat does not form a major part of the diet. The author also states that American’s normally waste food by only eating special animal parts while ignoring others. This he says; makes it hard to get these parts in local diners. Dan says in paragraph five that rather than grinding the odd cuts into boring sausages, they should be sold to countries like Mexico and India.
He desires people to sense that they are responsible for the unfriendly production techniques used by the farmers due to poor eating habits. Anger is elicited when Dan shows that, despite the wastage in the beef industry nothing has been done by those responsible for causing the situation yet things are getting worse.
Conclusion
Dan concludes his essay by emotionally appealing to the audience. He begins telling them to emulate other cultures that have good traditional cuisines such as the ones in North Africa, Asia, France and Italy. These cuisines, he says, comprise of small portions of meat. By efficiently using rhetoric in his essay, Dan convinces the audience that it is important to practice good eating habits to ensure sustainable meat production. The article appeals to the audience since he is able to establish his credibility, connect to the audience’s emotions, and reason.
Work Cited
Dan, Barber.Why Cooking Matters.The Nation, 2 Sept. 2009. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. <http//:thenation.com/article/why-cooking-matters>.
