Rhetoric Situation

Health. Balance. Variety

MEAL PLANNING 101

You have been asked to make a presentation to your school’s principal and food service staff to propose healthier food choices in the cafeteria at a time when the overall school budget is constrained.

ETHOS

I would begin my presentation by introducing myself and explaining why my audience should take into consideration what I have to say.

·      As a student who has attended Union School for nearly fourteen years, I feel I am a credible judge on most matters pertaining to the student body. I have been here long enough to thoroughly observe and reflect on the school’s accomplishments and, equally, on its pitfalls.

·      As a student, I am also one of the people, a member of the masses. Therefore, I am privy to access to the flow of complaints that buzz around our campus. I am tuned into my peers because I share some of their grievances and can relate to them on a first-hand basis.

·      One of the superseding complaints in the last recent years that I have readily come across has been directed towards the quality of food that is served here at Union School. Students feel that the selection of meals they have to choose from is much too narrow and concentrated primarily in starches and fats.

·      We are convinced that a new meal plan that addresses the dietary needs of different types of students and that eliminates unnecessary fats should be designed so as to be more of an all-encompassing service while staying within the school’s financial constraints.

LOGOS

I would proceed with my presentation by developing my argument through the use of researched evidence.

·      I would inform my audience with facts about the benefits of a healthier meal plan, as affirmed by health experts, dietitians, and professional nutritionists. (This would additionally feed into my ethos.)

·      I would display charts and statistics that depict the bridge that lies between healthy lunches and student performance.

·      I would provide calculations to demonstrate the ways in which the school would actually save money by making small shifts in the ingredients used to make certain meals and in the elimination of certain foods period.

·      I would use sources of information like the food pyramid that dictate the amount of calories and the quantity of certain nutrients that young children and adolescents should be consuming in a lunch meal in order to illustrate what a balanced meal should essentially consist of.

·      I would also use this to compare the ways in which the average healthy meal and the average meal served at our school differ so as to pin point the gaps that need to be filled in our lunch meal plan.

·      I would provide a list of examples of alternative foods and/or ingredients that the food service could purchase/prepare that would be affordable enough to respect the school’s budget.

·      Lastly, I would demonstrate how the school would generate more revenue by appealing to a wider range of dietary needs, as more students would be inclined to buy lunch at school.

PATHOS

Finally, I would strike my audiences hearts by provoking their sense of sympathy for students who would love to buy lunch at school but cannot due to dietary conditions and the limitations the meal plan poses.

·      I would provide bring in some of my peers to vocalize some of their personal testimonies concerning their experiences with the drawbacks of the school’s lunch service. These students would be a voice for the members of our community who:

o   Are vegetarian or vegan

o   Suffer from high cholesterol issues

o   Have gluten and/or lactose intolerant systems

·      I would speak about members of the Union School faculty who also wish to purchase school lunches but are hampered by their dietary restrictions.

·      I would explain how an all-inclusive lunch service would serve as a direct reflection of the ways in which Union School is an inclusive school that not only welcomes a broad range of students but also cares to appeal to their various needs in all possible ways.

·      I would conclude my presentation with a compelling statement about the need for balanced diversity in our meal plan to promote a sense of balanced diversity within the mosaic that is our student body.