Tow #21 "Factory meat, cruel and bad for us"

Today many people in America are advocating against factory produced meats and moving towards organic foods. In this article, Jane Velez-Mitchell, who has won three Genesis awards for reporting on animal issues argues that most of the world's most damaging problems are caused by the mistreatment of factory animals. Velez-Mitchell uses listing and stats from credible sources to persuade her audience to stop consuming these unhealthy animal products.

The article's organization makes the author's arguments easily visible to readers. By bolding and ordering her points in a list-like format, readers don't have to look for the arguments within her article and can quickly skim it to get the main idea. Velez-Mitchell declares that factory meat is responsible for the obesity crisis, the health care crisis, the country's deficit, natural disasters and hunger. By using a list, Velez-Mitchell is able to provide multiple examples because she only talks about each one briefly in a short, concise blurb. 

In addition to her superb organization, Velez-Mitchell packs each of her arguments with effective stats from credible sources. For example, she cites a study from The Journal of Economics that "the yearly costs of obesity are estimated to be as high as $190 billion a year" to emphasize the ridiculous costs that we put up with for eating obesity inducing factory meat. She also adds credibility to her argument by citing that "some of the smartest people in America from Bill Clinton to Bill Gates" are also protesting against our food system and searching for meat alternatives.

Through her use of statistics from credible sources and effective organization of the article, Velez-Mitchell convinces her audience of the detrimental side effects of factory meat and persuades them to stop buying these meats and target meat alternatives or a vegetable based diet instead.