List and describe the food item, and include where it came from
The food item that is in my fridge currently is and present in the given list is apple fruit. The apples I have were purchased in a bag at the Wal-Mart in Wooster, Ohio. I normally fancy eating apple fruits and have remained my favorite for a very long time. It is actually the third most produced apple in the world, behind the red delicious and the gala. Using the chart provided on fruit-crops.com, my calculation results indicate that the average amount of these golden and delicious apple fruits produced per year for the period between 2006 and 2010 is 10,175,760. I also established that China stands as the number one producer of apples all over the whole world. Currently, China produces 48% of the total world’s apple fruit stock. The United States of America follows China in terms of amount of production. The production level of the United States accounts for about 6% of the total amount of apples in the whole world. The apple fruits I currently have in my fridge are a product of North Bay Produce Incorporated, which is a company that is based in Traverse City, Michigan.
Use a miles calculator to determine how far it has traveled to you
The apple fruits I currently did not travel very since Wal-Mart just buys them within the United States in Traverse City, Michigan. I had to use Google in order to find out how far the products traveled because the link given to check the distance only gives miles from country to another. This link does not account for the ones that travel within a single nation. Traverse City, MI to Wooster, OH is 408 miles driving distance. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Wal-Mart buys apples from within the USA.
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How does the vast movement of food from one nation to another benefit or potentially harm developing nations? Are there benefits of importing food to developed or wealthy nations?
The developing nations get a lot of benefits from the traveling of foods. It is vital to note the fact that most of the developing countries are not industrialized hence still rely on agriculture as the main source of revenue (Asche, Bellemare, Roheim, Smith & Tveteras, 2015). These developing nations normally rely on the export of food produces in order to get revenue. The increased travelling of food is, therefore, of great benefit to the developing nations.
It is important that these countries make sure their own food supply needs are met before exporting to other countries. But as long as this is happening, the exporting counties will gain foreign exchange by exporting food (Gouel & Jean, 2015). The foreign exchange these countries have will help them in the international market, their power to also buy product in the market will increase, and the exporting country’s standard of living will also increase over time (Johnson, 2016). The process of exporting will even help the underdeveloped country to gain benefits like unemployment (Jaffee & Henson, 2004). The money that is brought in from selling the crops will be able to provide continuous growth and improvement within the agricultural industry in the developing countries as well.
There is an “eat local” initiative developing throughout the United States and Europe. What are the benefits to buying fresh, local foods? Are there drawbacks? Do you buy local?
The benefits within specific areas to eating locally grown foods are vast. Many people just simply like knowing where their food is coming from and being able to go straight to the source to purchase more. For example, if I go to the local farmers market I can ask the grower exactly what conditions the crops were grown in and find out if any herbicides or pesticides were used. It is also a great benefit to the community and/or state, when your money spent on food goes back into the local economy. One negative of buying locally is that prices typically are high. Since growers do not produce much of a given food item, they spend more money growing their items than the very expansive factory type farms and businesses do.
Can you live without the food item you chose? Is there a local substitute available?
I can live without apple fruits because there are other fruit substitutes for it.
Knowing what you do of how global food trade affects the global market and the economies of individual countries, explain your position on buying this food item in the future.
I would rather buy locally grown or at least growing in the USA. I feel it is better to spend within our country for products that are grown within the country. I like the idea of keeping our money here to benefit our economy further. Above all, if there are affordable apples grown within my very direct area I would love to buy them. I actually prefer to be able to find out what chemicals are used on my apples and what has been put on them as a preservative or polisher.
References
Asche, F., Bellemare, M. F., Roheim, C., Smith, M. D., & Tveteras, S. (2015). Fair enough? Food security and the international trade of seafood. World Development , 67 , 151-160.
Food miles calculator. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.organiclinker.com/food-miles.cfm .
Gouel, C., & Jean, S. (2015). Optimal food price stabilization in a small open developing country. The World Bank Economic Review , 29 (1), 72-101.
Jaffee, S., & Henson, S. (2004). Standards and agro-food exports from developing countries: rebalancing the debate. Papers.ssrn.com.
Johnson, D. G. (2016). World agriculture in disarray . New York : Springer.
Mark's fruit crops. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://fruit-crops.com .
