Band 7+: In many countries, more and more people choose to buy imported food rather than food produced locally. Why people buy imported food? What could be done to encourage people to buy local food?

Associating with international integration nowadays, there is a trend that people prefer consuming food imported from foreign countries to the domestic ones. While acknowledging a rationale behind this phenomenon is about the superior taste and quality of the former, I believe that it is possible for the government to set up some policies to foster people’s local food-interest.

On the one hand, the inequality in terms of taste between imported and local products could be a reason accounting for this trend. This could be attributable to the difference in climate, which has a great effect on food’s flavor and smell. For instance, fruits produced in tropical climates tend to be fresher and more succulent than these ones in other areas. In addition, huge investment in equipment and factories in developed countries, which are used in processing food, might support the superiority in quality of imported products. Specifically, this kind of food can be researched and technologically applied, creating the most perfect taste. Therefore, imported food successfully becomes a preferred option for consumers.

On the other hand, consuming domestic products should be encouraged by the government through setting up some related policies. It is advisable for the state to enact tax-cut policies on local food, which helps reduce its selling prices in order to approach more customers. Besides, fostering local-product consumerism also requires the investment in terms of money and effort from businesses or individuals. It means that to attract customers purposely, food produced locally needs to have the same or even better quality than the imported ones, which can be done by funding advanced technologies and better materials in the production process.

In conclusion, although the priority in using foreign food of people is attributable to a reason that the home-grown ones seem to be pale in quality and taste, there are some potential solutions related to implementing tax-cut policies and investing in processing to promote domestic-product consumption.