Today, food travels thousands of miles from farms before it reaches consumers in urban areas. Why is this the case?Is this a positive or negative trend?
Sample Response
In the past, most meat, vegetables and other food items were sourced locally. Today, however, the average consumer has convenient access to ingredients and pre-prepared items from other parts of the world. While a natural product of urban expansion and logistical progress in recent decades, it is a growing concern that can have profound environmental and economic impacts.
There are two main reasons for the increased food miles. The main one, as some experts suggest, is the unprecedented trend of urbanization across the globe. Having a larger population with greater spending power means regional agricultural systems, with limited volume and variety, are no longer sufficient suppliers, necessitating importation of food products from other regions. Another factor is the improved long-distance distribution systems that allow consumers to purchase the same type of produce regardless of seasons. Without this constant supply, it is unlikely that regions can take advantage of their own climatic and soil conditions to maximize outputs and compensate for others’ seasonal shortages.
The global food distribution network, despite its value in satisfying the increasing dietary need of the urban population, can have negative impacts on two different levels. The one that attracts the most publicity is the accompanying biological risks. The focus on high-yield plants and animal species, as harmless as it may sound, can increase risks related to diseases, pests and pathogens and ultimately disrupt the natural balance in regional ecosystems. The other challenge brought by the intervention is economic in nature. Multinational corporations, by manufacturing and transporting food items at the lowest cost possible, eliminate competition from local farmers with ease, so the local agricultural sector is likely to suffer in the long run.
To sum up, the increased distance food travels are the result of city expansion and the associated need for resource allocation. If not carefully monitored and managed, this can have irreversible consequences on food sustainability and market stability.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Clarify the increase Original: increased food miles Suggested revision: increase in food miles Why it matters: This phrasing more clearly refers to growth in the distance that food travels.
- 2. Add required article Original: regardless of seasons Suggested revision: regardless of the season Why it matters: The singular countable noun season needs an article in this expression.
- 3. Use uncountable output Original: outputs Suggested revision: output Why it matters: Output is normally uncountable when referring generally to agricultural production.
- 4. Use plural needs Original: need Suggested revision: needs Why it matters: Needs should be plural because the phrase refers to the population's varied dietary requirements.
- 5. Improve comparison wording Original: The one that attracts the most publicity Suggested revision: The first, which attracts the most attention Why it matters: The first identifies one of the two impacts more clearly, while attention is more natural than publicity here.
- 6. Clarify the reference Original: the intervention Suggested revision: this distribution system Why it matters: The intervention has no clear antecedent, whereas the replacement links directly to the paragraph's subject.
- 7. Use natural word order Original: at the lowest cost possible Suggested revision: at the lowest possible cost Why it matters: Possible conventionally modifies cost before the noun in this expression.
- 8. Choose accurate verb Original: eliminate competition from local farmers Suggested revision: outcompete local farmers Why it matters: Outcompete accurately expresses gaining an advantage over local producers without implying that the farmers are competition itself.
- 9. Fix subject agreement Original: the increased distance food travels are Suggested revision: the increased distance that food travels is Why it matters: The singular head noun distance requires is, and that clearly introduces the modifying clause.
- 10. Correct preposition choice Original: on Suggested revision: for Why it matters: Consequences conventionally takes for when naming what is affected.
- 11. Sentence rewrite Original: While a natural product of urban expansion and logistical progress in recent decades, it is a growing concern that can have profound environmental and economic impacts. Suggested revision: Although this trend is a natural product of urban expansion and recent logistical progress, it is a growing concern with profound environmental and economic impacts. Why it matters: The rewrite supplies a clear subject for the opening clause and removes the resulting dangling structure.
- 12. Sentence rewrite Original: Having a larger population with greater spending power means regional agricultural systems, with limited volume and variety, are no longer sufficient suppliers, necessitating importation of food products from other regions. Suggested revision: A larger population with greater spending power means that regional agricultural systems, which offer limited volume and variety, can no longer meet demand, necessitating food imports from other regions. Why it matters: The rewrite clarifies the means clause and replaces the awkward description of agricultural systems as suppliers.
Suggested Rewrites
- increased food miles increase in food miles
- regardless of seasons regardless of the season
- outputs output
- need needs
- The one that attracts the most publicity The first, which attracts the most attention
- the intervention this distribution system
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response gives a clear negative judgement, explains two credible causes, and develops environmental and economic consequences in a focused, sophisticated argument. Its main limitation is a small number of imprecise or awkward expressions, including the final sentence's agreement and phrasing. Prioritise polishing these isolated language choices and making the link from long-distance distribution to each stated impact even more explicit.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both questions are answered directly through well-developed causes and a consistently clear negative evaluation of the trend.
Make the environmental dimension more explicitly tied to long-distance food transport rather than leaving part of that connection implicit.
Coherence and Cohesion
The argument is logically sequenced, with focused paragraphs and cohesive devices that support rather than interrupt progression.
Clarify the transition from logistical efficiency to regional specialisation so that the final sentence of the causes paragraph is immediately transparent.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is wide, precise, and suitably academic, with only occasional slightly awkward choices such as dietary need and the intervention.
Replace the few abstract or generic labels with exact topic terms to maintain precision throughout.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide variety of complex structures is used with strong control, and errors are rare and do not impede meaning.
Proofread final sentences for number agreement and noun-phrase accuracy, particularly increased distance food travels are.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Today, food travels thousands of miles from farms before it reaches consumers in urban areas. Why is this the case?Is this a positive or negative trend?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.