Today many countries import food from different parts of the world. Is this a positive or negative development?

As transportation has become extremely advanced,

food

can be conveniently produced in one place and consumed in another thousand

of

Change preposition

apply

show examples

miles away.

Nonetheless

, I think

this

trend is largely a negative development.

This

essay will prove present arguments and evidence to prove my point.

Food

trade bears consequences for local farmers who produce export crops. Because the majority of cultivation efforts is focused on the production of export supply, provision for the local communities is oftentimes neglected.

Subsequently

, many nations where agriculture occupies a relatively large portion of national income struggle with the starvation of their own people. As if to exacerbate the issue, governments in some countries subsidize the growing of foodstuff to be sold to foreign buyers.

This

regrettable phenomenon is most prominent in

third

world nations

such

as Ethiopia. Ethiopia ranks among the ten largest coffee exporters worldwide;

nevertheless

, the nation is wracked by famine as the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of its inhabitants are severely threatened.

Food

trade

also

has adverse influences on the environment.

Firstly

, the transportation of

food

by aeroplanes or ships emit greenhouse gases, aggravating the urgent issue of global warming.

Secondly

, cultivating the same types of plants lead to soil deprivation as the nutrients necessary for those particular crops are depleted so quickly they do not have time to replenish. To address

this

problem, many farmers start to use synthetic fertilizers which poison the surrounding ecosystems as well as the harvest to be consumed which only doubles the damage.

Although

producers have begun to employ measures

such

as crop rotation and organic fertilizer, these solutions are not as popular as they should be.

For example

, in Vietnam, there have been instances where organisms in a pond adjacent to crop fields die in masses, and the major cause has been determined to be excessive use of fertilizers. In conclusion, international

food

trade is evidently a negative development due to the damages it brings upon local communities and natural environments.

Therefore

, governments should restrict their national

food

export in the near future to protect their citizens and the ecosystems within their borders.