AP Lang Fat City Essay

AP Language and Composition Multi-draft Argument Essay Rough draft due Oct 23, 2012, Final Draft due Oct 26, 2012 Compose a 500-750 word argument essay on the following topic. Your rough draft can be hand written or word processed and must be in class for Peer editing on Oct 23rd and your final draft is due on Friday Oct 26th. Your final draft must be word processed using MLA style for formatting and citation and submitted in printed form or by email. Yyou will be judged on grammar formatting, use of the drafting process, but mostly on the quality of your argument. This means how well you employ ethos, pathos and logos; how well you develop and organize your ideas; how well you use relevant, compelling, specific evidence to support your claims Fat City As a nation we are in a self-created health crisis. More of the country is obese than ever, and the projections are bleak. Diseases caused by obesity and poor diet are on the rise, such as type II diabetes, heart disease, hypertension. Obesity can even increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and Stroke. All told this is costing our society a fortune, because many of these health care costs associated with these illnesses are being picked up by Medicaid, Medicare, or in the case of those who can’t pay their bills, they are being absorbed by hospitals and increasing people’s insurance rates. Disturbingly, in a society where people are supposed to have an equal shot at The American Dream, Obesity and its consequences disproportionately impact poor communities and communities of color. As you will see in the attached sources, people have developed many solutions to this problem. Some suggest we need to fix food desserts, some want to tax foods which are bad for you like we do cigarettes and alcohol, some contend food stamps should only be redeemable for healthy foods, some want to promote healthy eating through education and exposure. Some even want to hold people responsible for their weight through health monitoring programs. What is the solution and why is that the appropriate solution? How will it help us s a nation to control our healthcare costs and give everyone a fair shot at the American Dream? Websites to use • CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/index.html • (you can navigate from this main page and find lots of data) • Let’s Move campaign: http://www.letsmove.gov/ • Article about taxing junk food: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/opinion/sunday/24bittman.html?pagewanted=all • Article about food desserts http://www.marigallagher.com/site_media/dynamic/project_files/Chicago_Food_Desert_Report.pdf • Article about not allowing junk food to be purchased with food stamps: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-06-20/news/ct-nw-food-stamp-spending-20120620_1_food-stamp-junk-food-supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program