Throughout Robert Paarlberg's article 'Attention Wholefood Shoppers', he
implores the need for the elite fixation over organic food to change and to recentralize
their focus on supporting the developing countries. The idea of local and organic foods
has rapidly overtaken the mindset of many Americans and there is no longer a sense of
urgency to deliver foreign aid to those who need it most. Although many Americans have
good intentions on eating and living healthier, the real food crisis surrounds those living
in Africa who are struggling to make their own food. Through his logical, ethical, and
pathetic appeals, Paarlberg delivers a compelling and successful argument in that the
elitist attitude on organic and local grown foods is not the answer when there are millions
of malnourished people throughout the world who need support.

In prior years, the United States had been in full support of sending foreign aid to
Africa; but recently the focus has turned to growing healthier and more organic foods.
Paarlberg argues through deductive reasoning by explaining the current food crisis and
then hones in on the specific struggles developing nations are facing. He demonstrates
that there is little margin of survival for the people in Africa and demands the United
States to take action considering its been done before. He explains, 'Foreign assistance to
farming has been a high-payoff investment everywhere, including Africa. The World
Bank has documented average rates of return on investments in agricultural research in
Africa of 35 percent a year, accompanied by significant reductions in poverty'(Paarlberg,
152). Parrlberg pleads there is no logical reason why the United States cannot provide
foreign aid when there has been proven success in the past. With the help of foreign aid,
the poverty line has been reduced in Africa and there has been an improvement in their
insufficient living conditions. The people and government in the United States have
developed an elitist attitude about the necessity for local and organically grown food. As
Americans, the primary focus has been how to specialize and enhance our food when
African's struggle to produce barely enough to survive. Paarlberg states, 'The number of
'food insecure' people in Africa (those consuming less than 2,100 calories a day) will
increase 30 percent over the next decade without significant reforms'(Paarlberg, 1). The
promise of life is dwindling in Africa, and Paarlberg argues that the time for action is
now. There is no logical reason why the people in America must remain so engrossed on
whether or not the food their eating is organic or not. The people in Africa do not even
have the option to decide if it is organic enough for them to eat. Through Parrlberg's
logical appeal, he effectively implores the need for Americans to switch focus on their
prized idea of food and spend their money on those who have little to survive.

As an associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard
University, Paarlberg devotes the majority of his time in researching international
agriculture. He explains the people in the United States are under the belief that their
health will improve if their food has the label 'organic' on it. Paarlberg does not
understand why organic food has become a greater priority than sending international aid
to countries who are not even aware of what the term organic means when it comes too
food. He explains that the 'Food and Drug Administration surveys have revealed that the
highest dietary exposures to pesticide residues on foods in the United States are so
trivial' the safety gains from buying organic are insignificant.' (Paarlberg, 150).
Paarlberg is aware of the safety concerns when it comes to food and reassures his
audience that in reality, the food produced today is safe and healthy to eat. He argues that
there is no dire need for all food be organic. It is not a crisis. The real crisis of food
comes into play when Africa and many other developing countries can barely survive on
the food that is being produced. Paarlberg continues by explaining 'surveys over the past
several decades by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have found that the
U.S. food supply became steadily safer over time' (Paarlberg, 149). He emphasizes that
the industrial food industry has established many safety measures and the idea of organic
food being safer and healthier is so trivial. There are countries that are in desperate need
of the United States help, and the only way for their conditions and food supply to
improve is through international aid. As an involved researcher in agriculture, Paarlberg
pleads for the obsessive focus on organic food in the United States to vanish and support
nations who need it most.

Pararlberg illustrates the selfish ways of American agriculture and the need for
food to be organic and locally grown to be unacceptable considering the developing
countries can barely produce food to survive. He evokes a sense of sympathy and sadness
that the United States has akm,.' bandoned sending foreign aid, only to focus their
priorities on if their food was grown locally or in a factory. The desire for our food to be
'organic, local, and slow' has overtaken the American population and has developed an
elitist attitude about where food is coming from. (Paarlberg). Paarlberg evokes a sense of
pity in this because the people of Africa grow their food organic, local, and slow. That
has gotten them nowhere. Many are earning only $1 a day and continue to starve. He
argues that if this has not gotten the African people anywhere then why is this the
primary focus in the United States. He explains that it is not as if Africa has tried to
increase their quality of living but rather are lacking international support from many
wealthy nations including the United States. Paarlberg explains, 'Africa is failing to keep
up with population growth not because it has exhausted its potential, but instead because
too little has been invested in reaching that potential'(Paarlberg, 151). Developing
nations alike to Africa do not have the opportunities to be prosperous and are struggling
simply to survive each day. Paarlberg implores how we cannot solely sit back and focus
on our elite and selfish ways when money could be spent elsewhere on helping others
survive. He illustrates the desperate need to help the African people because one will
never know what it is like to starve on a daily basis. Paarlberg demonstrates through a
pathetic appeal the devastating effects of the lack of food that is happening in Africa
when the people in the United States are too busy questioning whether their food is
organic enough.

Throughout the article 'Attention Wholefood Shoppers', Paarlberg effectively
argues the insignificance of organic food and the necessity as a nation to shift our focus
back to supporting developing countries with foreign aid. The United States intends well
on taking charge in healthy eating and growing local and organic foods; but has neglected
its duty as a nation to support those in Africa. In other parts of the world the idea of
organic food is nonexistent and the margin of survival is small. Paarlberg implores that it
is time to revert back to a time where sending foreign aid was a priority and an elitist
attitude did not revolve around food.
