Today food travels thousands of miles from the farm to the consumers. Why is this? Is it a positive or negative trend?
写作思路
本题是道经典的说明+议论文类综合考题，分析并讨论的是进口食材日渐增多的原因及产生的影响。题目写作方向灵活，但需要注意两问的写作内容和逻辑之间的关系。
重点词汇与语料
misjudged and underestimated 误判和低估
food production and processing 食品的生产和加工
be accustomed to 习惯于
produce 农产品
external 外部的
originate from 源自
the Internet boom 互联网的繁荣
exert 施以影响
retail market 零售市场
exotic foods 外国食品
the increasing exposure to foreign food culture
越来越多的接触外国饮食文化
ingredient 食材
be confined to 局限于
farmer’s market 农贸市场
from plough to plate 从种植地方到餐桌
unsustainable 不可持续的
food miles 食物里程
carbon footprint 碳足迹
spew 大量排放
asthma and other respiratory symptoms 哮喘及其他呼吸道症状
an environmentally sound alternative 一个更环保的选择
nutrients 营养物
maintain local farmland 维系当地的耕地
in the long run/term 从长远来看
the increasing availability of 日渐普及的......
mainstream food sources 主要的食物来源
参考范文
Nowadays, much of the food production and processing occurs far away from where consumers live and buy groceries. While most people are accustomed to the variety of imported produce, very few of them are aware of issues such as external environmental costs which originate from the amount of fossil fuel used to transport food for long distance.
There is no doubt that the Internet boom and the trend of globalization have exerted a great influence on the way that food choices have been made. The development of online shopping has meant that the Internet has become a worldwide retail market. Exotic foods that were once only available to a few people can now be bought by those living in small towns, even at a lower price than local produce. With the increasing exposure to foreign food culture, it is evident that ingredients for a meal are no longer confined to vegetables and meat from a local farmer’s market.
However, the vast distance that food travels from plough to plate makes it vulnerable to the environment and unsustainable in the long run. Today, the term ‘food miles’ which refers to the distance food transports from where it is grown to where it is ultimately purchased or consumed is widely used when testing the environmental impact of food consumption, such as the carbon footprint of the food. This is because long-distance transport of food by planes, trains, trucks, or ships all consume energy in large quantities and spew pollution that contributes to global warming, and the effects the pollution have on our health are reflected in high rates of asthma and other respiratory symptoms. Conversely, local produce is a much healthier and more environmentally sound alternative. Without the need of being packaged, shipped and then delivered, local foods are able to preserve the nutrients to the greatest extent. Besides, purchasing locally grown foods maintains local farmland, which in turn increases green and open space and therefore promotes healthy environment in the long term.
In conclusion, despite of the increasing availability of imported foods, I believe local foods will still be the mainstream food sources for a good reason.
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