Transportation of food refers to the process of moving food products from the place where they are produced (such as farms, fisheries, or factories) to where they are processed, sold, or consumed. In present days, food transportation takes long hours to reach customers from farmers. In this essay, I will argue that how this situation leads to a negative development.
Firstly, spending thousands of miles for food distribution cause for disadvantages, such as long travel times reducing the nutritional value and freshness of fresh fruits, vegetables, dairy and meat. For instance, Nuwara-Eliya is a major district in Sri Lanka that produces a large quantity of fruits and vegetables. However, those goods are sold in Dhabulla, Kandy or Colombo marketplaces, and it takes around 5-6 hours to reach their destination. In such cases, it easily leads to loss of freshness, and nutrition value. So, this is a bad impact that can occur due to a long transportation.
Secondly, the delivery costs for farmers have also increased due the long distances because they have to spend money on fuel and refrigeration until it reaches to consumers, and carbon emissions have also increased over time period. For example, a country like Sri Lanka, fuel price has fluctuated frequently, and producers face so many difficulties when transporting their vegetables or fruits to markets located far from their field. Especially, farmers who live in North central province spend large amount of money on fuel. As a result, their profits are less than expected. Hence, considering these factors, long transportation always leads to drawbacks.
In sum up, the reduction in nutrition value and freshness causes consumers to reject such goods at the market. In such situations, retailors are also face difficulties when they are going to sell the products. Furthermore, famers experience problems due to the high cost of fuel. Therefore, I believe that food is being shipped across great distances, often thousands of miles, from agricultural producers to end consumers, contributes to a negative development in the food production process.