Public Opinions

As time goes by, ways of living, and working, and providing for basic needs are modified to adapt to the technological advancements of the day. As technology has advanced, methods of acquiring necessities such as food are revolutionized as well. One such instance in which this is apparent is through the use of food shipping. Prior to the modernization of farming and transportation, food had to be grown, for the most part locally- people were raised eating local food and that is what they grew up to feed their own families as well. It wasn’t until much later did farming begin to be revolutionized to adapt to the demand of the population and improve productivity, and shipping processes were used to transport food from one area of the globe to be sold in markets in another. The modernization of farming has supplied people around the world with exotic foods from faraway places, and has made the economy all the more strong.
However, while the process of growing food in areas that they develop most prominently and shipping it to different regions to be sold was once a revolutionary concept and economic staple, it has recently become the object of conviction by many activists and environmentalists. The gasses and waste products emitted by the vessels of transportation necessary for the process of food transport are seen as a threat to the ozone layer, and thusly contributors to global warming. Although transport by boat or ship is a slower process, more food can be transported by this method and less gasses are emitted into the atmosphere than those coming from air transport. Regardless, activists and environmentalists insist that the answer is localized food consumption. Eating local eliminates the need for food transport entirely.
Although this is the case, eating local does not simply eliminate food transport without a cost. Perhaps there is less pollution emitted by airplanes and ships as they would have come from the mobilization of internationally grown food products, however it will not eliminate waste from such forms of transportation altogether. As long as people need to get from one place to another, at least until an alternate, reliable fuel source is discovered or developed, there will be waste products released into the atmosphere by vehicles. Simply stopping the need for food transportation will not stop the need for transportation of all other sorts, and therefore is not a simple fix for global warming. Perhaps it is a step in the right direction from the point of view of environmental activists, but much more would need to follow in step for this to be a truly effective movement.
Not only are there other drives for transportation that would need to be considered before any real steps can be taken towards preventing global warming beyond that of food transport, but other food development issues arise as well. Producing foods locally often requires specialized processes and equipment that in themselves can emit just as much greenhouse gasses as would have been released during the transfer process. Not to mention that it is much more productive to grow plants in regions that they are most prosperous. Environmentally, the idea of eliminating food transport as means of preventing global warming leaves much to be desired, and its de-modernization of farming and transportation would pose as a technological step backwards.