Michael Pollan's Article- Unhappy Meals

In his work, Unhappy Meals, Michael Pollan has explained the misconceptions that have become essential concerning dietary factors. The education of individuals about their health has been contaminated by factors which make the whole problem recurrent. Pollan discusses the replacement of foods by nutrients. As he explains, this might seem vital to the consumers. However, it creates more problems, as the essay shows. The main purpose of the writer in this passage is to emphasize the use of suitable and healthy nutrition among individuals. The technical terms, information involved, and the eating habits of college students make this essay ideal for them. Therefore, they are the most suitable audience for this article. The writer achieved the intended persuasion due to his style of information delivery, which involved the explanation of facts right from their route source. Some of these facts include the discovery that nutrients are an unequal substitute for food. He also mentions that governments are responsible for the misconceptions and misunderstandings among members of the public. These factors pass through a long way in enhancing persuasion in the article.

There are various strategies that the writer has used in an attempt to be persuasive to the relevant audience. The first strategy is the use of sarcastic language. This is whereby he uses examples of previous mental conceptions of many people to teach them new ways of achieving healthy life- styles. This is vital, since it attracts the attention of the audience. Once the audience discovers that its life-style is ridiculed, it arouses interest. Michael Pollan seems to be a credible writer since his article displays sheer hard work and research. The article is exhaustive at all points that it covers. There are various instances in which the author has used sarcasm to be persuasive. For example, in the fifth paragraph, he says, “Or for that matter an eater who wants to hear yet again, eat more fruits and vegetables” or “A little meat won’t kill you”. These are some of the sarcastic statements that the writer has used to show the mistakes that people make in their decisions on nutrition. By doing it, their health deteriorates at the expense of lifetime. In another instance, he says,”Foods by comparison were coarse, old-fashioned…” This is a sarcastic statement. Foods are regarded as old fashioned since they do not supply the direct nutrients. However, these other manufactured foods are far much worse than real foods. Therefore, the writer regards them as old-fashioned to trap the attention of the audience. This helps in persuading them to follow the correct feeding menus.

The other strategy that the writer has used is the arrangement of his points in a logical manner. The writer has arranged the points in a manner that causes them to seem like an evolution process. This is because he discusses the changes that have taken place in the eating processes, lifestyles and perceptions. For example, the first four subtopics follow each other in an order that can be understood by any member of the audience. These subtopics are; “Eat food. Not too much. Especially plants”, “From foods to nutrients”, “The rise of nutritionism” and “Eat right get fatter”. This sequential explanation clarifies where the human race went wrong, leading to the present poor dietary habits. Therefore, it serves to remind and inform the audience of the mistakes that they ought not to commit in the future. The author has used the most convincing method for his audience to share his views. This is because he has arranged his points from one step to the other. This makes sure that all aspects and activities about the problem were covered as they occurred. In this sequence of events, Michael attaches the research findings on this series of events.         

The other factor that the writer has put into consideration when enhancing the persuasion is the use of a remorseful tone. The writer achieves it by making the audience feel guilty about their past dietary habits. This is because the writer proves that these habits are not as healthy as some people may have been taught. When the audience discovers that most of the things told to them were not new, they take an interest and are easily convincible. Communication to young people has a little impact when a commanding tone is used. However, when a tone full of remorse is used, the net result changes drastically. A perfect example of this is the instance where the author says, “Naively putting two and two together, the committee drafted a straight forward set of dietary guidelines calling on Americans to cut down on red meat and dairy products”. This shows that the writer is sad that the guidelines and recommendations were made. Pollan knows that they were not the right recommendations. This reveals the fact that the level of knowledge on dietary factors was low. This lack of knowledge had infiltrated the large firms, and they made decisions that could have a disastrous impact on society (Pollan 2007).

Conclusion

This is an article at which all college students should draw attention. This is because they are the most affected by the problems associated with diet. The other factor is that these people have the potential to give back to the society. They are old enough to understand these arguments, and young enough to cause a significant change. There are many articles, which have been written for the same purpose. However, this article is different due to the above mentioned strategies used in the achievement of information conveyance. For this reason, this is the most suitable article for the mentioned audience.