Ted Talk Analysis: "What’s Wrong With Our Food System?” by Birke Baehr

    For my TED Talk analysis, I will be looking at “What’s Wrong With Our Food System?” by Birke Baehr. Baehr’s passion for this topic is very apparent, and equally impressive, considering the fact that he is only 11 years old. He effectively uses pathos, which is emotional persuasion, as his main rhetorical appeal. He starts out the presentation by talking about the way that marketing and advertisements for unhealthy foods are directed at children by their bright packaging. Seeing a kid talk about the way that it directly affects him and his siblings makes you stop and think about the effect it actually has. Birke uses humor about his age to get the crowd laughing. Seeing a young person so passionate about making a change is encouraging and refreshing for viewers to see. The effect the video seems to have is that if an 11 year-old cares so much and can make a change, then so can the audience. It leaves people feeling empowered and motivated to make better health-conscious decisions.  Instead of just addressing the issue, he shows ways that we can help make a difference, such as purchasing from local farmers markets and eating organic food. Baehr has a very innocent charm about him, and by telling stories about his life and family, he creates a connection between him and the audience. He also uses logos, the logical form of persuasion, as an appeal to the viewer. By displaying a practical/non-time consuming way to live a healthier lifestyle, it leaves little room for excuses for poor eating. He addresses the argument of healthy eating being too expensive, and says “It seems to me that we can either pay the farmer, or we can pay the hospital.” His point is very logical, and sheds a new light on healthy eating. As far as ethos, the use of credibility and authority, I would definitely not consider it to be one of his means of persuasion. Being the young age he is, he doesn’t have experience on his side. With that being said, it does not negatively affect his argument because of the fact that people are not expecting credibility from him. Using emotional and logical persuasion, he got his point across very clearly and left a positive effect on the audience.
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