Katherine Springs analysis

1.)What is the claim?
a.) The writer is trying to convince the reader to buy from local farms versus shipped and conglomerate groceries that come from other portions of state
b.) The Thesis is directly stated in the last sentence of the first paragraph.
2.) What support does the writer offer for the claim?
a.) The reasons are that buying locally helps save the environment by lowering transport costs, processing time and factories.
b.) The evidence is shoddy in that she stated statistics and titles without sourcing them properly, E.g; "A CNN article" without stating what the article was.
c.) The reasons are well intended, though the global warming statement is more of a red herring.

3.) How evenhandedly does the writer present the issues?
a.) The biggest notice is that she mentions Alex Avery's statement of buying produce from where it grows best, and she admits and changes her argument to "Buying as much as possible" from local farmers in your area, and also goes onto the efficiency issue of "All crops per acre" versus the standard measurement of amount of crop in a single acre.
b.) Katherine acknowledges the arguments against her statement and goes on to use them to elaborate her intentions on top of her normal statements.
 c.) She treats the arguments respectfully.
d.) She deals with each argument individually and immediately.
4.) What authorities or sources of outside information does the writer use?
a.) Each authority is used in different areas of expertise as well as interviews with specific farmers. For example, she uses a statement from Mr. lermio for comparisons.
b.) Mr. Lermio is rather biased in that he's already a smaller farmer that would benefit greatly from buying locally, so of course he'd speak for it.
c.) He is current in that he is a family friend of the Springs family.

5.) How does the writer address you as a reader?
a.) She assumes we know which produce grows where.
b.) She uses "we" a good deal when talking about helping the environment, wherein I also feel detracted because she's just trying to pull me in forcefully.
 c.) I don't think buying locally helps the environment in particular, but it does help the local economy to sustain the farmers' way of living.