It is a common belief that importing farm products from other countries is a good thing for us to do. However, there is a more persuasive argument that society would be benefit more if shoppers purchased and consumed domestic goods, which would protect the livelihoods of local farmers by not letting prices drop too low.
On the one hand, purchasing food items brought in from abroad allows people to consume a greater variety of agricultural products. Importing products that cannot be grown domestically gives local consumers much more choice in the market. For instance, kiwifruit are very difficult to grow in Korea, so few farmers are willing to plant them. This results in a very limited supply of domestically grown kiwifruit. Luckily, importing fruits such as these is very common nowadays, and they are available in most markets. This makes it much easier for the average person to enjoy this exotic fruit.
Nevertheless, ti is more important to protect domestic agriculture, which is in decline because many of the goods that are imported are cheap. This has negative consequences for the local farming industry, which is not always able to compete. For one, products imported from places where they grow easily are often cheaper. When these low-priced products hit the market, they drive prices down to a level that cannot be matched by local farmers. This leads to consumers preferring to purchase less expensive imported products instead of local ones. A good example of this occurred in France, where the country’s high labor and equipment cost make domestically produced farm products rather expensive. When cheaper meat and dairy imports from Spain were introduced, the local farmers simply could not deliver products to market at prices that were competitive with the imports. This led to farmers going out of business.
To sum up, while it is apparent that importing items from abroad increase consumer choice, it is undeniable that buying domestic farm products should be our top priority.