Food can be produced cheaper if we use improved fertilizers and better machinery. However some of methods may be dangerous for human health, and have negative effects for local communities. What is your opinion?
In recent years, the vast improvements in technology have made a significant change to the way food is produced. Improved fertilizers and better machinery derive from such technological developments have substantially increased the food production and reduced the food price. However, the increasing health and environmental problems resulting from excessive use of pesticides and food additives still show many methods to produce food have overall negative effects.
Of course, the use of improved fertilizers and better machinery can bring many benefits. Firstly, with improved fertilizers, the time needed to grow crops can be considerably shortened and the amount of crops harvested every year is thus increased. This in turn lowers the cost to produce food, making it affordable to more people. Secondly, with better machinery, food can be made more delicious and more types of food can be made available for people to choose. As it is likely for people to consume more because food is produced cheaper and more attractive to eat, the development of local economy would benefit largely from this.
However, despite that the increase in the production and improvements in flavor have made food cheaper and tastier, it is the fact that many advanced methods used to grow and process food still involve the use of pesticides integrated fertilizers and food additives. As most pesticides are detrimental to many other plants and animals, the uncontrolled use of which would likely cause damages to the ecosystem and the environment. Moreover, in order to make food look attempting to eat and increase its on-shelf time, additives are often added. Although many of the food additives are claimed to be safe to use, it is unfortunately that consuming of processed food on a daily basis can still lead to health problems. There are many cases where a child becomes hyper-excited because of the excessive use of additives in the food they regularly eat.
In conclusion, although using improved fertilizers and better machinery can lead to lower food price and better eating experience, the arisen health and environmental problems are likely to counteract the economic benefits low price food brings. Thus, it is still necessary to develop and adapt greener methods to grow and process food so that people can expect to enjoy cheap and delicious food without concerning health and environmental issues.