The following appeared in a magazine article on trends and lifestyles:
“In general, people are not as concerned as they were a decade ago about regulating their intake of red meat and fatty cheeses. Walk into the Heart’s Delight, a store that started selling organic fruits and vegetables and whole-grain flours in the 1960’s, and you will also find a wide selection of cheeses made with high butterfat content. Next door, the owners of the Good Earth Café, an old vegetarian restaurant, are still making a modest living, but the owners of the new House of Beef across the street are millionaires.”
Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion.
The author argues that as society became more health conscious, people in general have stopped eating fatty meats and cheeses, and that as a result, vegetarian restaurants have flourished as meat-rich establishments have failed. The author gives little evidence, however, to support his assertions and draws conclusions that are unsupported by the data. This conclusion is a faulty one, and it fails to consider other possible explanations for the trends he mentions. The flaw in the author’s logic is that he assumes that because fewer people want to eat fatty meats and cheeses, then vegetarian restaurants must then be more successful. I would make several points that should be considered before drawing any conclusions on the success of the vegetarian restaurant industry
First, the author makes the assumption that the Heart’s Delight store is the only store selling organic and whole-grain foods. While it is true that Heart’s Delight opened its doors in the 1960’s, many other grocery stores and markets have sprouted up since then, and it is possible that people who shop there also shop at other stores. If Heart’s Delight was the only place selling whole-wheat flour and organic foods, then the author’s claim would be accurate. If, however, Heart’s Delight, as well as the other stores, sell many different types of foods, then the author’s conclusion is not supported by the data
Second, the author fails to give any figures on the amount of money spent on natural and organic foods. If, for example, Heart’s Delight and two other stores are the only places selling organic and whole-grain foods, then the amount of money spent on those items would be small. In this case, the fact that the owners of those stores are wealthy is likely due to other factors, such as their location in the city or their other business holdings. If, on the other hand, there are many stores selling organic and whole-grain foods, then the amount of money spent would be large, and it is possible that the owners of those stores are less wealthy than the owners in the other two stores. If, for example, Heart’s Delight was one of the stores selling organic and whole-grain foods, then the owners of the other store might simply have to compete with Heart’s Delight in order to attract customers. If the other store sold organic and whole-grain foods for 25% less than Heart’s Delight, then the owners of those other stores might be less wealthy than the owners in Heart’s Delight
Third, the author gives no data on the trend in the price of organic and whole-grain foods. If the prices of these items are relatively unchanged, then the owners of those stores are probably still wealthy, since they would still have to make a profit. If the prices of these items have fallen relative to the prices of conventional foods, then the owners of those stores might reasonably be less wealthy. Finally, the author gives no figures on the number of vegetarian restaurants that have sprung up in recent years. It is entirely possible that the increase in the number of vegetarian restaurants is a direct result of the decreased interest in fatty meats and cheeses, but it is also possible that the increased number of vegetarian restaurants is due to other factors. For example, some vegetarians have, for years, been eating vegetarian meals at home, but when they go out to eat, they may order meat dishes. These meat dishes are, therefore, not vegetarian, even though those restaurants claim to be vegetarian. This, too, might account for the increase in vegetarian restaurants
The fact that the owners of Heart’s Delight are wealthy does not mean that the Heart’s Delight store is the only store selling organic and whole-grain foods. In addition, the author fails to provide any data on the prices of organic and whole-grain foods, the trend in the price of organic and whole-grain foods, or the number of vegetarian restaurants. Because the author makes no attempt to support his conclusions, it is reasonable to conclude that his claim is faulty; however, it might also be the case that other factors are at work. Nonetheless, the author’s claim is flawed, and any conclusions he draws from it are suspect.