Air transport is increasingly used to export fruit and vegetables to countries where they cannot be grown or are out of season. Do the benefits of this trend outweigh the drawbacks?

With the growth in aviation, many countries now choose this mode of transport to export food such as fruit and vegetables to places where they are not in season or cannot be grown. I would argue that this has more positive than negative effects. The first positive effect is that it helps local farmers of poorer countries. This is because they may be able to improve their income and standard of living when they can sell too faraway foreign markets rather than only producing stable crops for local markets or their own consumption. This may not be possible with exports by land or sea as items such as vegetables and fruit will perish before they reach their destination. In addition, it will benefit people who are receiving the produce. people in the countries that receive the food have the opportunity to try a variety of vegetables and new exotic fruits that they would not otherwise be able to sample. Not only this, the cost will reduce for customers as the food can be bought in bulk by supermarkets, thus keeping the prices low. However, a negative side to this development is the impact that this has on the environment. One of the biggest problems in the world today is global warming, and one of the major contributors to this is the burning of fossil fuels in the form of oil. Transporting millions of tonnes of food every day by air will add significantly to this problem. For instance, just one flight releases large amounts of carbon dioxide and other gases into the environment. Climate change may therefore worsen if this trend continues. In conclusion, I believe that the advantages of exporting fruit and vegetables by air outweigh the disadvantages. This trend should be encouraged so that countries around the world can continue to enjoy the benefits of this development.