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In this assignment, you must present three types of arguments/evidence for both sides of the debate:
credible, factual arguments
persuasive appeals to morality, ethics, and/or social justice
anecdotes, humor, and/or emotional details
For credible, factual arguments, you need to be relying upon presenting credible claims backed up by evidence (such as statistics or documented research). This requirement is where you will most likely be citing the academic sources required in the assignment. Please make sure to review General Guidelines for Writing Assignments to ensure your sources meet the definition of academic sources. 
For your moral or social justice arguments, you need to be appealing to ethical principles or notions of fairness justice to support each side. For many of the debate topics, you can rely upon moral arguments regarding the obligations of a government to protect and care for its citizenry vs. individual rights.
The last requirement is use of humor, emotion, or anecdotes. Both humor and emotion can be difficult to convey through written text alone so it needs to be a bit exaggerated to really come through. An example of using humor would be calling out opposing arguments as ridiculous (and explaining why you are doing that). Some examples of using emotion would be specifically telling people that they should be fearful or empathetic or compassionate, etc., to a specific cause given certain factors. Finally, anecdotes are short one-off examples that illustrate a point. If you are looking for anecdotes, you might want to turn to popular press (this would be in addition to your academic source requirements) as news media often uses anecdotes to paint a picture. If you are writing about a topic with which you have personal experience (e.g. getting sick from consuming raw milk), you could also use your own personal story as an anecdote.
Please remember that you are required to use the provided template and that you need to follow the instructions using highlighting. 
Also, I want to remind you that you cannot submit any text generated by AI for this assignment (see Use of Generative AI in this course). I actually asked ChatGPT to do this assignment and it consistently failed. You can, however, use generative AI to help you brainstorm ideas. For example, if you are struggling to think of a moral argument in favor of foie gras production, you could ask it “What is a moral argument in favor of foie gras production?” You can then look at what it produces and build an argument from there if what it produces makes sense (which it doesn’t always). Again, you cannot just copy and paste from these sources though. 
Purpose:
The goal of this assignment to evaluate the arguments used on multiple sides of a food-related debate that we do not have time to cover in detail during the course.
Learning Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to demonstrate that you have the ability to…
Examine and critique multiple types of data and arguments
Develop and support ethical arguments around a key food ethics issue
Evaluate the strength of data and arguments in order to argue your own personal position on the issue
Write in a professional manner
Task:
In this assignment, you will choose a topic from a provided list of interesting and provocative food-related debates that we do not cover in detail in the course and then propose, develop, and justify two opposing arguments on this ethical issue. 
To complete this assignment, you should begin by selecting a topic from the list of Debate Essay Topics. You should then read the article that is assigned under your debate topic to get an idea of what the issue is. Next, you should begin to conduct research, collecting data to be used to justify both the pro and con sides of the debate. You need to ensure that the sources you rely on for your investigation are reputable. For this assignment, you must cite at least four (two per side) academic (i.e. peer-reviewed) pieces of literature in your essay. You may reference non-academic sources but if you are relying on a factual argument, you need to verify the veracity of the factual claims with academic or other reputable sources. Finally, you should outline and write a 1500-2000 word essay. The essay should have four parts and make use of the required template
. 
A brief (200-250 words) introduction that introduces and explains the debate and defines the key terms.
A section (~800 words maximum) where you present the pro or “yes” side of the debate.
A section (~800 words maximum) where you present the con or “no” side of the debate. The pro/yes and con/no sides should be roughly equal in length.
A brief conclusion (approx. 200-250 words) in which you state your own personal position on the debate and briefly explain your reasoning for why you have decided to support one side or the other.
For each side of the debate, you must present three types of arguments/evidence: (1) credible, factual arguments, (2) persuasive appeals to morality, ethics, and/or social justice, and (3) anecdotes, humor, and/or emotional details. See the Debate Strategies document
provided in Assignment #1 for help in understanding these requirements. In order for you to ensure that you have met these requirements AND to indicate to us where you believe you met these requirements, you are required to highlight at least one example of each type of argument according to the following:
credible, factual arguments: highlight in red
persuasive appeals to morality, ethics, and/or social justice: highlight in yellow
anecdotes, humor, and/or emotional details: highlight in green
Additionally, you will need to provide a Works Cited/References page. We strongly recommend using APA citation formatting style, however any well-regarded citation formatting style will be accepted.
You are not required to have a cover page. Your title, name, and references are not counted in the total 1500-2000 word count requirement. Your paper should be formatted with single spacing, 1-inch margins, and 12-point Times New Roman font as seen in the required template. 
Upload your assignment here. Double check to make sure that your file uploaded correctly. Only .doc(x), .pdf, and .txt file formats are accepted.
Remember that if you use generative AI in any way for this assignment, you must submit an accompanying explanation of its use. For details on the full expectations of the explanation, see Use of Generative AI in this course.
Criteria for Success:
In order to be successful in this assignment, do the following:
Check out General Guidelines for Writing Assignments. There are tips on how to find academic sources, how to avoid plagiarism, and how to use APA citation formatting.
Pay careful attention to the word count requirements. Only text that meets the allowances for maximum length in the template will be graded. 
Check out the rubric below to see how this assignment will be graded. Compare your completed assignment to the rubric to ensure you have met every expectation.
You should select one (1) of the following topics* for your Debate Essay. The provided reading will help you to get started on understanding this topic. It can also be used as one of your required academic sources.
Should governments ban meat/dairy names for vegetarian alternatives?
van Couter, Y., Mahy, A., & d’Ath, F. (2016). Belgium: Ceci n’est pas du lait—This is not milk. European Food and Feed Law Review, 328-332.
Should governments ban the production of foie gras?
DeSoucey, M. (2016). Contested tastes: Foie gras and the politics of food. Princeton University Press.Links to an external site.
Should authorities responsible for regulating food safety prohibit the sale of raw milk for consumption?
Alegbeleye, O. O., Guimarães, J. T., Cruz, A. G., & Sant’Ana, A. S. (2018). Hazards of a ‘healthy’trend? An appraisal of the risks of raw milk consumption and the potential of novel treatment technologies to serve as alternatives to pasteurization. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 82, 148-166.
Should hospitals eliminate infant formula giveaways?
Morain, S., & Barnhill, A. (2018). Do Infant Formula Giveaways Undermine or Support Women’s Choices?. AMA Journal of Ethics, 20(10), 924-931.
Should governments impose “sin taxes” on high-fat and/or high-sugar foods?
Allcott, H., Lockwood, B. B., & Taubinsky, D. (2019). Should we tax sugar-sweetened beverages? An overview of theory and evidence. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 33(3), 202-27.
Should schools ban the sale of “junk food” on school grounds?
Leonard, P. S. (2017). Do school junk food bans improve student health? Evidence from Canada. Canadian Public Policy, 43(2), 105-119.
Should governments ban palm oil from the food supply?
Koh, L. P., & Wilcove, D. S. (2007). Cashing in palm oil for conservation. Nature, 448(7157), 993-994.
Should governments require food businesses (e.g. restaurants and caterers) to publish allergen information for all food items?
Hamshaw, R. J., Barnett, J., & Lucas, J. S. (2017). Framing the debate and taking positions on food allergen legislation: the 100 chefs incident on social media. Health, Risk & Society, 19(3-4), 145-167.