Countries should produce the food that their population eat, and import as little as possible. To what extent do you agree or disagree? Give reasons, examples to your answer

An interesting topic for debate these days is that a country should strive to grow the share of food that is consumed by its inhabitants. A large number of countries that are densely populated rely on others to meet their demand of food such as crops or livestock. A well known fact is that a myriad of third-world countries are exploited for their products. Promoting local production of food would certainly lift the burden off of the farmers in these countries, struggling to meet the ever-growing demand of produce. Furthermore, local production would encourage healthier lifestyles as well as lead to a decrease in food wastage as people would appreciate their ‘homegrown’ food. However, decreasing import of food does have its disadvantages. The most important being, that countries would definitely be deprived of different varieties of food. In addition, many countries, especially those that lie in the proximity of the equator, do not have the necessary climate or conditions required for growing produce. Moreover, export of food is a primary source of income for plenty of countries. A decrease in food exported would undoubtedly cause financial hardship as well as lower the country’s economy. Lastly, a significant number of countries in the world, are over-populated, meaning they lack the space required for growing food. To conclude, I firmly believe that a country should not be fully responsible for growing their own food. However, certain steps need to be taken to ensure no countries are exploited for their produce.