Air transport is increasingly used to export types of fruits and vegetables to countries where those plants can’t grow or out of season. Some say it is a good thing, but others consider this use of air transport can’t be justified¹. Discuss both views and give your own opinion

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Air transport is commonly used to move fruits and vegetables to places where those farm products can’t grow or are out of season. The benefits of such business are obvious, but air transport also creates a number of problems.

Transport of fruits and vegetables by air enables consumers to enjoy a wider variety of fresh and in-season farm products from all over the world. Not only is air transport good for consumers, it is also a blessing² for farmers because the market is no longer restricted by regions. As a result, air transport increases the sale volume by selling more products in more places.

Moreover, air transport of food has now become a major resource of incomes for air companies. In the past, air companies’ business mainly came from serving passengers. However, facing an increasingly tough market, air companies need to expand their share of market to serve a wider range of customers in order to stay in the game and make a profit. With a booming economy and more money to spend, people create a great potential for food transport business and good margin³ for air companies.

In spite of such benefits, air transport is not free of problems. One major issue is high cost. Air transport is probably the most expensive way of transport. Higher costs entail⁴ high prices, which in turn deprive people with less money the opportunities to enjoy such privileges. So air transported food is now for the rich, a fact that is unfair for poor people.

In addition, it is not the best option to solve problems by transporting food from outside for places where certain kinds of fruits does not grow. The most optimal⁵ way, it seems to me, is that we should change the environment required by such plants using scientific and biological methods such as creating suitable soil and temperature. Such solutions will be proven to be ultimately cost-effective and fundamental.

More importantly, research indicates that air transport pollutes the environment. For example, Britain transports half its food by air. However one kilo New Zealand fruit emits five kilo warm house gas on its way to destination. Therefore, some environmental groups and books advocate people to distinguish local fruit and air-transported fruit in an effort to cut the pollution from food consumption.

In conclusion, air transport has many benefits for consumers and farmers, but it also has problems such as high cost and pollution. More effective and environmental friendly solution should be found to address such problems.