Food production
Discuss the impacts our food purchases may have on the environment and economy
The UN refers to food as one of the “nexus” of sustainable development. However, with the everyday increase in the population of the world, food production is essential. However, buying food has both economic and environmental effects (Carson, 2016). The environmental domain calls for ecological factors attached to the purchasing of food. Ideally, when we buy more food, we encourage local farmers to produce more food. This massive production leads to a total climate change because of the factors involved when producing food, such as irrigation. On the other hand, the local economy is stimulated by buying more food. Assertively, by buying the food from farmers, we give them more funds to continue large-scale farming, thus ensuring food security. This large-scale farming has many effects on the positive growth of the country’s economy.
Discuss two advantages to purchasing food items that are locally sourced versus those
One of the advantages lies in the acquisition of fresher farm produce. Since the local food come from local farmers, the purchaser can get fresher food items, thus assurance for more nutrition (Thornton & Kavanagh, 2016). Assertively, the local food items have proven to be organic, pesticide-free, and hormone-free, asserting their benefits not only to the consumers but also to the environment.
On the other hand, buying from the local farmers helps protect the local land and wildlife. With the support given to the local farmers and producers, the lands can remain operative, saving the lands from local developers who can transform the land and devastate the wildlife. Thus, with the preserved local land and wildlife, the locals can conserve their environment.
Discuss two disadvantages to purchasing food items that are locally sourced versus those shipped from other areas of the country and from around the world
One of the disadvantages includes the fact that local food may be more expensive than the shipped ones (Thornton & Kavanagh, 2016). The high quality in products seen in local food items necessitate it to be of higher in price than the local food items
Moreover, there is a limited selection by the consumer. There are very few food items produced by the local producers. Thus, the buyer will have a limited selection compared to other items sourced from around the world.
References
Carson, R. A., Hamel, Z., Giarrocco, K., Baylor, R., & Mathews, L. G. (2016). Buying in: the influence of interactions at farmers’ markets. Agriculture and human values, 33(4), 861-875.
Thornton, L. E., & Kavanagh, A. M. (2016). Understanding the local food environment and obesity. In Geographies of Obesity (pp. 103-134). Routledge.