Used thoughtfully, the source materials you have gathered will make your argument more complex and convincing for readers. Sources can play several different roles as you develop your points.
Providing background information or context
You can use facts and statistics to support generalizations or to emphasize the importance of your topic, as student writer Sophie Harba does to demonstrate the large social benefits of laws designed to prevent chronic disease.
To give just one example, Marion Nestle, New York University professor of nutrition and public health, notes that “a 1% reduction in intake of saturated fat across the population would prevent more than 30,000 cases of coronary heart disease annually and save more than a billion dollars in health care costs” (7).
Explaining terms or concepts
If readers are unfamiliar with a word or an idea important to your topic, you must explain it for them; or if your argument depends on a key term with multiple connotations, you must explain your use of the term. Quoting or paraphrasing a source can help you define terms and concepts in accessible language. Harba defines the term refined grains as part of her claim that the typical American diet is getting less healthy over time.
A diet that is low in nutritional value and high in sugars, fats, and refined grains—grains that have been processed to increase shelf life but that contain little fiber, iron, and B vitamins—can be damaging over time (United States, Dept. of Agriculture and Dept. of Health and Human Services 36).
Supporting your claims
As you draft your argument, make sure to back up your assertions with facts, examples, and other evidence from your research. (See also A4-e.) Harba, for example, uses factual evidence to make the point that the typical American diet is damaging.
Michael Pollan, who has written extensively about Americans’ unhealthy eating habits, notes that “[t]he Centers for Disease Control estimates that fully three quarters of US health care spending goes to treat chronic diseases, most of which are preventable and linked to diet: heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and at least a third of all cancers.”
Lending authority to your argument
Expert opinion can give weight to your argument. (See also A4-e.) But don’t rely on experts to make your argument for you. Construct your argument in your own words and, when appropriate, cite the judgment of an authority in the field to support your position.
Debates surrounding the government’s role in regulating food have a long history in the United States. According to Lorine Goodwin, a food historian, nineteenth-century reformers who sought to purify the food supply were called “fanatics” and “radicals” by critics who argued that consumers should be free to buy and eat what they want (77).
Anticipating and countering objections
Do not ignore sources that seem contrary to your position or that offer arguments different from your own. Instead, use them to give voice to opposing points of view and to state potential objections to your argument before you counter them (see A4-f). By anticipating her readers’ argument that many Americans oppose laws to limit what they eat, Sophie Harba creates an opportunity to counter that objection and build common ground with her readers.
Why is the public largely resistant to laws that would limit unhealthy choices or penalize those choices with so-called fat taxes? Many consumers and civil rights advocates find such laws to be an unreasonable restriction on individual freedom of choice. As health policy experts Mello et al. point out, opposition to food and beverage regulation is similar to the opposition to early tobacco legislation: the public views the issue as one of personal responsibility rather than one requiring government intervention (2602). In other words, if a person eats unhealthy food and becomes ill as a result, that is his or her choice. But those who favor legislation claim that freedom of choice is a myth because of the strong influence of food and beverage industry marketing on consumers’ dietary habits.