Rhetorical Analysis of "Think Globally, Eat Locally"

In their essay “Think Globally, Eat Locally,” authors Jennifer Wilkins and Anna Lappe make an argument for increased awareness of the locality, content, and origins of the food and water we consume. Both of these women are well-known advocates of sustainability in the era of globalization, Lappe the co-founder of the sustainability-driven Small Planet Institute and Wilkins a professor of nutritional science. With this in mind, we can clearly see that these two authors have unique motivations in their writing of this essay. They are well-versed in the implications of sustainability or the lack thereof in a globalized world, and are obviously passionate about enacting change they feel would be beneficial to the planet. Their purpose is to convince their audience, the readers of the Seattle-Post Intelligencer, that a shift towards sustainability is necessary.

Wilkins and Lappe attempt to establish credibility in their very first paragraph, quoting from a Congressional testimony by Al Gore, one of the foremost voices on climate change in recent years. They proceed to construct an argument centered largely on logical appeals, even dismissing current American production and processing strategies as “environmentally illogical.” They use many statistics, pointing out that organic farming results in 30 percent less energy usage, and comparing the gasoline used to process fertilizer and pesticides to driving “more than 6,000 Priuses from New York City to Los Angeles and back.” The authors also attempt to build common ground with their audience, highlighting the natural foods found “here in the Northeast.” These strategies serve two major purposes – to build the authors’ credibility with their audience, and to use that credibility to influence them, using logical statistic-based arguments.

I think Wilkins’ and Lappe’s article is effective, and accomplishes the task they set out to accomplish. They demonstrate an obvious knowledge of their subject matter and by coupling that with the common ground they share with their audience, they allow themselves to influence their readers. They make a point of showing that sustainability isn’t just an emotional or environmentally-protective standpoint, but a standpoint based on logic and reason. Through their use of numbers and statistics, I think they communicate this message quite well.