Editorial: Common Sense on Nutrition

      No matter what people say, the human race is obsessed with food. We are obsessed with eating it, dieting on it, cooking it, buying it, and working it off. Days that are not revolved around when meals happen are few and far between. Since food is so important to us, shouldn’t we be more concerned with what we are eating? What we put into our bodies to function off of? This editorial in the Dallas News is focused around child nutrition. The author uses imagery, diction, and details to prove his or her point that Congress made an awful decision to not pass new USDA regulations for school lunches.

      Throughout the editorial, the author uses imagery to enhance their point. Instead of just saying, “no one would eat pizza” they say, “no one would eat sauce-drenched pizza” to put an overpowering image in the reader’s head. He or she used the phrase “sugary soft drinks” to put an image in the reader’s head of an opaque liquid engrossed with sugar particles. The author could have instead said “a refreshing, cold soft drink” which would have made the reader crave a refreshing soda instead of cringe at the idea. When describing things they are trying to portray as disgusting, the author uses un-sexy descriptions. For example, they use the phrase “a wedge of dough, cheese, and red sauce” to describe pizza, putting it in a negative light.

         At the same time, the author uses diction to further hook the reader. For one, the author includes many phrases that one would use when talking about weight and body image for other uses throughout the editorial. He or she says things like, “the state is ahead of the curve” and “to shape up students eating habits.” These puns bring the essay full circle and make the overall idea of nutrition ever more prevalent by using negative connotations. When talking about negative things, like childhood obesity and diabetes, the author uses powerful descriptive words to make the awful consequences even more grotesque. “Rampant obesity” and “fatten up little bodies” are just two examples of the common occurrence. Sarcasm is included in this piece as well. The author makes remarks such as “pizza sauce is a vegetable if the regulations call it one” to show how ridiculous the current USDA regulations are.

       

      The author includes many important details to make their point. He or she uses some astonishing facts that leave the reader in awe and most definitely on his side of the argument. The author tells the audience “two tablespoons of tomato paste qualify as a vegetable under current regulations.” A fact that I am sure the majority of the public does not know but one that many would have a problem with. They also use details such as talking about a Congress man/women at their own home feeding their own children. Would a member of congress “in the sanctity of his or her own home [point] to a piece of pizza and [refer to it as vegetables]?” This scenario makes the reader disgusted at Congress’ decision; a feeling they may not have gotten without that important detail.

     This editorial about Congress’ poor choice in not passing the new USDA regulations for nutrition in elementary schools used diction, imagery, and detail to enhance the point. Once one reads through it, they will most likely be convinced that a change needs to be made to help the innocent children. 

http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/20111117-editorial-common-sense-on-nutrition1.ece