Some people are of the opinion that food should be transported from one place to the other, while others are of the opinion that people should consume locally produced food. Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages

It is often seen nowadays that food is transported over enormous distances from farm owners to customers. Few people are of the opinion that, to conserve nature and make it pocket friendly, it would be better to eat food grown nearby. This trend has its own benefits such as cost saving but it also has drawbacks like unavailability of certain specific food variety. While I accept that the trend has its own merits, but the demerits are far more. There are 2 major advantages. Firstly, the food grown nearby will need minimum expenses on transport. To be clearer, the money needed for vehicles, fuel and labor will be saved resulting in decreased prices. Secondly, the food prepared locally will take into consideration the choices of the people staying there. To give an example, in case of Jain community, there is no point in growing unnecessary items which are not consumed by them. This will save resources and decrease wastage. However, there are three distinct disadvantages. To begin with, certain food which are needed in daily diet cannot be made available. For example, sea food will not be available in hilly areas resulting in people being deprived of the delicacies. Another thing to consider is, not all plants will grow everywhere. To elaborate, rice cannot be cultivated in Jaipur. People cannot miss these basic elements in their conventional meals. Lastly, in today’s era, people have fallen into a habit of getting whatever they want. If they are forced to eat what is being made available locally, there will be mental agony and disharmony. To conclude, after considering above explanation, there are pros and cons of eating food grown locally. However, in my perception, I truly feel that the disadvantages outnumber the advantages.