In the previous assignment, you were asked to stand back from a conversation and survey the landscape of the arguments. You were an observer looking from the outside in.

Introducing the assignment. Now, it is your turn to step into the conversation and analyze the arguments presented in the course readings. For this assignment, then, you will survey the claims made in the texts and evaluate whether they are valid, ethical, logical. You will also need to assess whether the claims are supported or refuted by other sources that you read in class and/or from outside sources.

You'll start that research on the internet and in the library databases. To get started, look for sources related to the topic in google by focusing on specific search terms, such as food sustainability, food sustainability + biotechnology (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., food sustainability + animal welfare. You'll also need to locate scholarly research in the library databases.

After you've located your evidence from the primary (Lusk) and secondary sources (outside research), you will need to summarize, paraphrase, quote, and document your sources.

As for all writings this semester, this paper will be written for your peers and your instructor. Therefore, you should assume that your reader is favorable to your analysis but might be unfamiliar with your sources. Your paper will need to background and clarify the content of the articles that you cite in your paper.

Thinking about the assignment. For this assignment, then, you might consider the following questions:

What arguments are presented in Unnaturally Delicious?
Are those arguments ethical? Logical? Emotionally-driven? Predictable? Simplistic? Overly generalizing? Outdated?
Are those arguments supported by other research? In what ways does other research challenge those arguments?

In other words, in the previous assignment, you overviewed Lusk's arguments and relied on support from Unnaturally Delicious (e.g., paraphrases and quotes). For this paper now, you'll revisit Lusk's arguments and evaluate whether they are supported by other sources and research.

Would you like to see a model? Here's an example of a student's introduction and discussion 1 section.

James Smith

Instructor’s Name

Composition I

December 9, 2018

Evaluating Arguments in Unnaturally Delicious:

Ethical and Economic Arguments for Lean-Finely Textured Beef

In his book, Unnaturally Delicious, Jayson Lusk, food and agricultural economist and professor at Oklahoma State University, argues that if you have eaten a cheeseburger before March 2012, you have probably consumed lean finely textured beef. Lean finely textured beef, or LFTB as it is called in the beef industry, is casually known as “pink slime” (Lusk 157), and in 2012, many news outlets reported on the “pink slime” that food processors were putting into ground beef. LFTB is the result of separating protein from fat in discarded beef trimmings to create a lean beef substance that can then be added to ground beef. After these reports, LFTB was removed from almost all beef products, and companies such as Beef Products Incorporated (BPI) were forced to close plants and lay off hundreds of workers (159). Despite the controversy, Lusk argues that LFTB is a safe mechanism for reducing food waste and lowering costs for consumers, and Lusk argues that the media acted irresponsibly caused the disgust that the public has acquired for the product (160).

Current research, likewise, supports Lusk’s argument: LFTB is a perfect illustration of what happens when the general public does not understand the science behind our technological advancements and how the consumers can easily be manipulated by one-sided social media campaigns. Considering then the research that supports the use of LFTB and our need to feed a ever-increasing human population, we have an ethical responsibility to reduce food waste and an economic imperative to feed seven billion people. The research about LFTB supports these purposes and helps us to achieve those goals.

Ethics: Lean Finely Textured Beef Reduces Food Waste

Lusk presents that it is important to reduce the amount of food that we waste to meet the demands of our growing population. More specifically, he believes that LFTB is a valuable means of reducing food waste. In chapter nine, Lusk discusses how LFTB was created by Eldon Roth and BPI to reduce the amount of the beef carcass that was wasted. He says that if we were to stop using LFTB altogether we would essentially be wasting thousands of cattle every day. Lusk writes, “BPI itself has argued that if we stopped eating lean finely textured beef, it would be equivalent to ‘throwing away 5,700 cattle a day’” (155). The evidence seems to support the validity of Lusk’s argument. J. Ross Pruitt and David P. Anderson discuss the impact of LFTB on the beef industry, before and after the news coverage from 2012. In the article, published in Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm, and Resource Issues, they point out that if there were no longer a market for LFTB the amount of cattle that would need to be slaughtered would increase. The article states, “The inability to use LFTB will result in the need for an additional 1 to 1.5 million cattle to be slaughtered annually” (Pruitt and Anderson). That works out to about 3,500 cattle a day, which is certainly more conservative than BPI’s figure. But the implications are the same.

Without LFTB each individual cow or bull will be worth less to food processors. If the value of the cattle declines but the demand for lean ground beef remains the same, then the amount of cattle that need to be slaughtered will increase. Thus, the efficiency of our beef production will decrease, and the waste will increase. Food waste brings with it other implications, such as animal welfare. Slaughtering animals is an ugly business. Most people don’t like the idea of the mass production and subsequent slaughter of animals, but most consumers aren’t willing to do away with eating meat. According to experts like Temple Grandin, that is okay. But, we are morally obligated to do it in the most efficient way possible (Bell). Lean finely textured beef accomplishes these things while increasing profits for processors and decreasing costs for consumers.

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Researching for the assignment. When engaging with outside sources, you also want to take some time to consider the timeliness, legitimacy, relevance, and accuracy of the sources. Your goal is to engage with your research and become an information literate person. The American Library Association notes that an information literate person:

Determines the nature and extent of information needed.
Accesses the needed information effectively and efficiently.
Evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.
Uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.
Understands many of the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information, and accesses and uses information ethically and legally.

Information literacy, therefore, is defined by the American Library Association (ALA) as a set of skills which require you to "recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information." As you engage with your research this week, these are the objectives that we'll also be working toward.

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For this week, then, you will:

Explore/Learn
- Read Chapter 6, "Beginning Your Search," from Joining the Conversation.
- Read "ENGL 1301: Argument Evaluation" from JtC, NCTC Preface xxviii.
- Read Writing Toolkit: Writing Your Evaluation.
- Read Writing Toolkit: Organizing the Evaluation.
- Review Writing Toolkit: Writing the Introduction.
Connect/Collaborate
- Complete Wk 11: Reading Quiz (JtC, Chpt 6).
- Complete Wk 11: Library Orientation.
Apply/Experiment
- Complete Wk 11: WA 3, Rough Draft (Introduction).