Mark Bittman’s article “Is Junk Food Really Cheaper?” tells about how people are not really getting their money’s worth when it comes to consuming junk food. He does this by showing the differences between ordering a meal at McDonald’s and cooking a meal at home. The twenty-eight dollars that is spent to feed a family of four at McDonald’s can be put to use making a meal that could last for a couple of days and feed more than four (Bittman 660). Engineered to be addictive, hyper-processed food has a taste that makes people wanting more. Lastly, Bittman addresses the convenience of junk food provides nowadays.
Therfore, the cost of junk food is not really cheaper in comparison to a home cooked meal.The article is intended for is one of non-academic audience based upon the language Bittman uses throughout, thus making it easy to understand by people not in the field of study. Bittman’s purpose of the article is to inform the audience about the cost of junk food in comparison to buying ingredients from a supermarket and the addictive quality the hyper-processed food holds. For example, he states that a typical meal at McDonald’s to feed a family of four is roughly twenty-eight dollars, which is expensive in comparison to cooking a meal at home for the same size family for about nine dollars (Bittman 660). This shows the audience that the money that usually goes toward a meal at McDonald’s should be put towards cooking a meal at home. He then informs the audience on the addictive quality that junk food holds.
Bittman writes, “The addiction to processed food is the result of decades of vision and hard work by the industry” (663). The industry finds the right balance between all the flavors which makes people wanting more. An. .unk food cheaper compared to a home cooked meal? No, because people are actually spending more on a meal that will only last for a single meal at McDonald’s or some other fast food restaurant, when it would be better spent on ingredients for a home cooked meal. The audience are able to know that Bittman hold authority on the subject, though not formally trained, and is trustworthy because he cited his sources where he found information from.
He appeals logically through the use of statistics, such as the inflation of junk food, and reasoning when he writes about alternatives for junk food. Finally, emotionally the audience can identify with happiness as Bittman compares home cooking to a carnival and disgust when given the image of a McDonald’s meal is compared to ingredients from a supermarket. Therefore, cooking at home is better and beneficial than junk food.
