Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch Article Analysis

📌Category: Articles, Cooking, Food
📌Words: 813
📌Pages: 3
📌Published: 26 January 2022

Food has changed over the last fifty years and in the article: “Out of the kitchen, onto the couch: the collapse of home cooking” (481), Michael Pollan conveys the idea perfectly.  This article expresses the concerns and causes of moving from home cooking to eating fast food by using different rhetorical techniques.  The audience of this essay is most likely anyone concerned with their health and who is seeking to change their diets and lifestyles.  Pollan excels in expressing his argument clearly and backs it up with a strong purpose and credentials for writing this article along with the rhetorical devices which are logos and source citations.

Michael Pollan discusses the many changes from home cooking to fast food within the past fifty years.  He explains how women started joining the workforce in the fifties and sixties and illustrated the change in the amount of time that a woman had to make dinner.  It was easier to buy pre-made food rather than spending hours preparing a home-cooked dish.  He also discussed the growing health problems which have been raised due to the rapid change in mass production and our food consumption.  Obesity seemed to be his main concern based on the many sources of research which he studied, revealing that obesity has been on the rise ever since the beginning of fast food and eating out.  He also explains that our diets have become increasingly unhealthy due to eating too much processed food that is no longer clean and fresh (Pollan 481).

Michael Pollan is qualified to write about this article because he has a background that is rich in education and literacy.  In the biography about the author, it states: “a professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, is also a regular contributor to the New York Times” (Pollan 481).  This is important because it gives credibility to the author and allows him the freedom to openly express his ideas and arguments in published articles.  Because of his stature, he can write about controversial topics which can keep readers engaged.

In 2009, unhealthy and cheap food was being produced at an alarming speed, which led Michael Pollan to feel the need and purpose for writing this article.  In the article, Pollan includes a section about the different types of cheap food and mass production, which proclaims: “the mass production of cream-filled cakes, and fried chicken wings has transformed all of these hard to make foods into cheap one-dollar products at a gas station” (481).  Pollan included this quote to give a clear example of the sheer amount of food being mass-produced every day, which has led to unhealthy results.  During this time, obesity was rising at an all-time high, and Michael Pollan was compelled to inform readers of the growing problems.  He wanted to show potential solutions to the historical issue which led to the purpose, which was to inform people of the mass production of food, and to educate any reader who might want to change their lives and live differently than before.  Because Michael Pollan wrote the article during a complex time and clearly states his purpose, the reader remains engaged and excited to continue to study and analyze the article.

By using many statistical facts, logos is perfectly integrated into the article, which creates the feeling of a factual and persuasive paper.  To support the use of logos, the author includes a statement which says: “a decline about 40 percent since 1965” (Pollan 481).  Logos is the primary persuasive technique found in the quote because of the use of statistics.  The technique is successful because it provides mathematical proof that the proposed argument is one based on a scientific hypothesis and that has been tested and researched numerously before Pollan began writing his article.  Because logos uses statistical data, the evidence is firm and concrete rather than filled with superstition and theories, which creates a factualized essay that the reader can easily understand and agree with.

Throughout the article, there are many claims and statistics, but there are also numerous source citations used to further persuade a reader.  Michael Pollan supports this claim by: “a 1992 study in The Journal of the American Dietetic Association” (482).  By using source citations, Pollan further persuades the reader of his arguments by referencing other writers who have also reported on the same topic.  Readers will not only find the source citations factual, but will be convinced that the shift from home cooking to fast food is more important than they realized.

Michael Pollan is an exceptional writer who was able to effectively convey his message and argument to the reader by providing esteemed credentials, clearly stating his purpose and occasion, and using rhetorical devices such as logos and source citations.  The author effectively uses these strategies to create a compelling and rich story based on the truth regarding the change in food throughout the past fifty years.  Anyone should read this because the article is a literary masterpiece that is written to perfection in terms of persuasion.  Not only does it inform an audience about a real-world problem, but it also cleverly persuades them to find a real-world solution.

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