Non-academic version
In the modern world, we often don’t rely on food that has been grown locally, but we have become accustomed to buying food from all over the world. While this trend is good for consumers, I think that overall transporting food over long distances is not a good thing.
The biggest argument against importing food is environmental. We know that transport and the use of fossil fuels is the biggest cause of global warming and climate change. This means that if we want to lead a greener lifestyle, we should try not to use transport so much and this includes transporting of foodstuffs when we don’t have to.
Another point is that transporting food is bad for local farmers and traditional ways of life. This is because farmers and smallholders cannot compete in price with the supermarkets that import cheap, and often low-quality, produce from abroad. This is not just a problem for local farmers who will go out of business, it also weakens traditional communities that need those farms for employment and trade.
We should also think how food that has travelled across the world is not as good for you as locally grown, fresh produce. This is because if food travels a lot of miles before it reaches the consumer, it won’t be very fresh and experts say that fresh food is better for you. So, in my opinion, supermarkets and other stores shouldn’t transport food from other countries.
In conclusion, I think that the trend for transporting food over long distances is wrong because it is not good for the environment, it is bad for local communities and means consumers less healthy options for the consumer.