Nowadays. the food that you buy comes from many different countries. Have a look in your fridge, cupboard, and fruit bowl and check the origins (来源) of the food. Perhaps there are apples from California, lamb from New Zealand, or potatoes from Egypt. You will probably be surprised how far food travels to get to your plate. This journey, from field to plate, is called "food miles". A food mile is the distance that food travels from the farmer's field to the person who buys the food. Nowadays, food often travels thousands of miles to get to the consumer. Why is this, and what are the effects (影响) of these long distances?
Traditionally, farmers sold their food in the local market, so the food didn't have to travel very far. The consumers also did not travel very far because they went to their local market to buy the food. This was a good system for farmers and consumers. However, there were some disadvantages. For example. Consumers could only buy food that farmers produced locally. In addition, they could only get food that was in season. Now, because of modern technology, food comes from all . over the world. We do not have to wait for spring or summer to buy strawberries or tomatoes, They areavailablein winter if we want.
Some countries have to import (进口) most of their food. This is because they have difficult climates. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), for example, gets 85% of its food from other countries. Even food made in the UAE often uses imported materials.
What's wrong with "food miles"? Is this not a good way of increasing international trade? I believe these miles are worrying for a number of reasons. First of all, because food travels such long distances, we need more planes. Lorries, and ships to move the food. This means we use more oil or petrol, so there is more pollution and more global (全球的) warming. In addition, food that travels a long way is not fresh and usually not very tasty. Tomatoes, for example, are picked early and stored for their long journeys. For this reason, they are usually tasteless when they get to the consumer. Local food has a better taste. and it also reduces the amount of global pollution. We need to buy more local food.
