Argument40 限时第一篇，有拍必回拍

kexinyupiaoUID: 2250204

TOPIC: ARGUMENT40 - The following appeared in a memorandum from the president of Excello Food Markets.

"In 90 towns where Excello has food markets, natural-food stores specializing in organic food products-products containing no chemical preservatives and made with foods grown without pesticides-have opened nearby as competitors. Surveys of our own customers reveal a growing concern about foods grown using pesticides or preserved with chemicals. Recently our market in Sun City participated in a local food tasting fair, and 75 percent of the fair goers who visited the Excello booth requested free samples of organic fruit. Such evidence indicates that to increase our profits, we should begin to stock a full line of organic food products in all our markets."
WORDS: 484          TIME: 0:27:07          DATE: 2007-2-20

In the memo presented above, the president of Excello Food Markets recommends that they begin to stock a full line of organic food products in all their markets in order to increase their profits. To support this recommendation, the president points out that natural food stores specializing in organic food products have opened as competitors, and that surveys shows customers are more concerning about foods grown using pesticides or preserved with chemicals. And the president also states that most fair goers requested free samples of organic fruit in a recent local food tasting fair in one city. However, the argument suffers from several logical fallacies.

To begin with, the president assumes that the newly opened stores in 90 towns where Excello has food markets have make a profit in selling organic food. However, the president fails to provide any evidence to prove this. Without convincing information, it is all likely that these stores have not made enough money to make up their cost. Besides, the president assumes that these stores are competitors but fails to shows that people prefer food in these stores rather than that of Excello. In a word, the president can not convince me that these organic food stores are competitive and popular enough to decrease Excello's profit.

Secondly, the survey of their own customers as the president presents may not indicate that these customers prefer organic food. In the first place, these customers involves in the survey may not be representative enough to show the opinion of all the customers as a whole. In the second place, the mere fact that these involved customers are more concerning about foods grown using pesticides or preserved with chemicals leads no strong support to the conclusion that they are willing to buy organic food. Perhaps the price for organic food is much higher than that of Excello, or perhaps the food in Excello are not using enough pesticides or chemical so that customers will prefer to buy organic food.

Thirdly, the fact that 75 percent of the fair goers requested free samples of organic fruit does not mean that many people are interest to take organic food. It is possible that these people are only interested in organic fruit, not all organic food products as the president holds. Besides, it is still possible that these people are only interested in tasting samples just because they are free, instead of concerning about the its nature that free from pesticades and other chemicals. Moreover, the preference of people in Sun City may not reflect of that in other cities.

To sum up, the president fails to substantiate the recommendation which renders it unconvincing as it stands. To bolster the recommendation, the president needs to provide more information about the preference of the customers. To better assess the argument, I also need to know the competition in the organic food market and the cost of organic food.