Language Analysis Essay

The piece titled ‘getting our future back on the rails – slowly’ is written by a member of The Grow Slow organisation who believes that the most convenient occupant for the land of the abandoned railway yards is a community garden. The author begins the article in a confined toned aiming to convince the reader that a community garden is the right choice and later transfers on to a more critical tone when talking about convenient foods. The author’s main arguments include firstly that community gardens are a global trend and that their community should be one to follow such a trend, secondly a community garden will be beneficial to everyone and is the most efficient option and lastly community gardening will bring the whole community together. Firstly the author asserts that a community gardening is a growing global trend and that the council should accept the chance to bring their community ‘up to date with the rest of the world,’ by stating this the author implies that their community is behind compared to the rest of the world and encourages the reader to feel the urge to catch up with the world and support the growing trend. The author re-establishes this effect when informing the reader of the productivity that city farms bring to ‘hundreds of millions across the globe.’ The author also acknowledges opposing arguments that community gardening is ‘just a passing fashion,’ and further rebuts those arguments by giving examples of community gardens which are still around from the time they were dug in World War 2. Using World War 2 as an example not only causes the reader to agree that community gardens are not just a trend but also can be beneficial in times of crisis; this is furth er supported by the first image which accompanies the article. Secondly the author contends that a community garden will be the most sustainable option and will benefit the whole community. This is when the audience faces the transition in tone which becomes more critical about convenience foods. The author appals to their readers hip pocket nerve when declaring the ‘hidden price tag’ that convenience foods carry because ‘a lot of it is wasted’, ‘ends up in landfill’ and adds to ‘environmental damage.’ Not only does this cause the reader to stray away from the idea of convenience foods, it also brings upon the realisation that growing their own food will benefit the planet as well as themselves. The author further convinces the reader of the negative economic impact that convenience foods have by providing a chart from the NSW environment protection authority  which provides that each year in just one state the cost of processed food waste is approximately $360 million is wasted on packaged f ood, $240 million on frozen food and $170 million on takeaway. In contrast of this the author communicates that if people grew their own food they would value it too much and hence there would be no waste. Lastly the author recommends community gardening as the best option because it will bring the community together. The author claims that the garden will be ‘a great way for children to learn,’ also that ‘kids spend far too much time inside’ and the garden will provide a healthy option for them to go outside and do some physical work in the fresh air. Referring to children as one of the main benefiters from the garden the author not only appeals to the council, because children are the future of their community but also appeals to parents as they want their community to be a healthy and sufficient place for their children. The author declares to the council that voting for the garden will be a ‘visionary’ step and invites the community to ‘join in’ to ‘dig for victory again.’ By using the word visionary the author applies a positive effect on council members who may be reading the article making them feel that if they vote for the garden they will have been a part of a revolutionary step for their community, and inviting the community to ‘dig for victory’ implies to community members that the community option is the right option and as it was successful in the past it should be successful today as well. In conclusion the author’s main purpose is to gain the support of community members and convince council members that the garden is the best option to vote for in the upcoming hearing. The author justifies this through her three main arguments including that community gardens are a global trend to be considerably followed, secondly the author criticizes those who rely on convience foods and provide them with evidence that community gardens are the better and more sustainable option and lastly the author asserts that community gardens wi ll unite the community.