Overview

Background

So far we have been reading In Defense of Food, a text that researches a community issue. Michael Pollan takes up what he calls “nutritionism” to argue for a different philosophy toward food. “Nutritionism” is a term that Pollan uses after doing research on public and governmental policy to understand how they created our current health culture.  Instead of writing about obesity, a common research topic, Pollen looks at what is behind obesity; he critiques the culture that created obesity and created a general sense of not knowing how to eat right. He draws on scientific, cultural, and policy research in order to create a context for his argument. At the same time, he demonstrates a relationship between his community (ie: the United States) and a particular issue he is interested in. It is clear from the introduction how Pollan became invested in this issue, his personal experiences related to this issue, and how he sees this issue affecting others in his community.  He is making an argument; that is clear from the introduction, but it is also clear that he is trying to present multiple aspects of the issue, trying to think critically about all of the various reasons that we relate to food in the ways that we do. In other words, Pollen’s text could be used as one model of how and why a person does research on a community issue. 

Specifics

For this writing project you need to research a community issue—an issue that you care about and that affects you and/or people you know. In the final version of the essay, you will take a position (make an argument) on the community problem, and support your position with researched evidence from a variety of sources.  Researching and writing about a community issue can be a powerful way to help you and others to understand the issue, what is at stake, and to come to some potential solutions or revised understandings to that issue. This is your purpose in this essay, as it was Pollan’s in his book: to help people to change their mind or to change their practices.