The increasing use of air transport to export fruit and vegetables to countries where they cannot be grown or are out of season is a positive development. To what extent do you agree or disagree? v.1

With the growth in aviation, many countries now choose this mode of transport to export food such as fruits and vegetables to places where they are not in season or cannot be grown. I would argue that this has positive and negative implications. On the positive side, transport by air has opened up markets that were previously inaccessible, benefiting the exporting and importing countries. Firstly, local farmers in poor countries may be able to improve their income and standard of living when they can sell to faraway foreign marketers rather than only producing staple crops for local markets or their own consumption. In addition, people in the countries that receive the food have the opportunity to try a variety of produce and new exotic fruits that they would not otherwise be able to sample as the products would deteriorate if moved by land or sea. 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 goods every day by air will add significantly to this problem as just one flight releases large amount of carbon dioxide and other gases into the environment. Climate change may therefore worsen if this trend continues. To sum up, it is clear to me that although there are advantages to exporting food by air, there are also drawbacks. This method of exporting consumables should continue but with regulations on the amount of flights in order to protect the environment.