Today’s food travels thousands of miles before it reaches customers. Why is this so? Is this a positive or negative development?
Sample Response
In recent years, it has become increasingly common for food products, including fruit and grainsfood, fruits and grains to be transported thousands of kilometres before finally reaching the consumersend customers. There are several reasons why this is so. While some argue that this is a positive development, I believe that it is a negative trend for several reasons.
The reason why food travels thousands of miles before it reaches customers is due to globalization and the modernization of the food industry. With increasing demandWith the increase in demand for diverse and exotic foods, suppliers source their products from around the worldall around the world. Furthermore, advancements in technology have made it possible to preserve and transport food over long distances.
The transportation of food over long distances contributes significantly to environmental issues such as climate change. The carbon emissions from transportation vehicles reduce air qualityhave a negative impact on air quality and contribute to the greenhouse effect, which in turn leads to rising global temperatures. Additionally, transporting food over long distances requires a significant amount of energysignificant amounts of energy, further exacerbating the environmental impact of this practice.
Moreover, the transportation of food over long distances can have negative consequences for the quality and nutritional value of food itselfthe food itself. Many types of food, particularly fruits and vegetables, are often harvested before they are fully ripe to withstandin order to withstand the rigours of long-distance transportation. As a result, they are often less flavorful and less nutritious than locally sourced produce. In addition, long transportation timesMoreover, long transportation times can lead to spoilage, resulting in food waste and further environmental harm.
In conclusion, while it may seem convenient to have access to food from all over the world, the transportation of food over long distances has significant negative consequences. We should prioritize locally sourced and sustainable food production to protect the environment, support local economies, and promote nutritious dietshealthy and nutritious diets.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response directly answers both questions, maintains a clear negative position, and develops relevant reasons through logically sequenced discussion of global supply, environmental costs, and food quality. Its main limitation is some repetition of key wording and a few broadly stated claims, which slightly reduce precision. The best improvement would be to vary repeated expressions and deepen one causal example with more specific evidence or qualification.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both causes and the writer's negative evaluation are directly addressed through well-developed and relevant supporting ideas.
Add a more specific illustration or qualification to make one of the environmental or nutritional claims even more compelling.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response is logically organised into focused paragraphs with clear progression and well-managed cohesive links.
Reduce repeated paragraph openings and repeated references to long-distance transportation to make the flow more seamless.
Lexical Resource
A wide and precise vocabulary supports nuanced discussion of global supply, environmental effects, and food quality with strong control.
Vary recurring phrases such as transportation over long distances and refine a few generic expressions for greater concision.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex structures is used accurately, with clear control of clauses, punctuation, and sentence variety.
Refine occasional stylistic heaviness and redundancy so complex sentences remain as concise as they are accurate.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Today’s food travels thousands of miles before it reaches customers. Why is this so? Is this a positive or negative development?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.