Please review my IELTS essay. Thank you so much!

Topic: Many countries import a large amount of food from other parts of the world. Is this a positive or negative development?

My essay:

An enormous amount of food is imported from various countries. Although this has several drawbacks, I find this to be a positive development.

On the one hand, there are some disadvantages there that relate to the environment and people’s health. First, since foreign food is transported in thousands of miles, people usually utilize methods of transportation such as planes or ships and refrigerate it during the transporting process. This means that a large amount of greenhouse gas like carbon dioxide and chloroform is emitted into the atmosphere, which leads to global warming and ozone depletion. Second, to prevent food from deteriorating and oxidizing, individuals add various types of harmful chemical substances such as E102, borax and formalin into food. As a result, many people suffer from a range of health problems like vomiting or food poisoning, even cancer if they consume them for a long time.

On the other hand, the benefits of food importation cannot be denied. First, because of geographical and seasonal constraints, many countries find it difficult to develop their agriculture, thus imported food is the best solution for their residents. For example, in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East where are known as barren areas with a large range of desserts, indigenous people, in the past, resigned themselves to a limited range of their local produce, however, nowadays they can eat exotic vegetables and fruits which cannot be grown in their own country. Second, by importing food from other countries, the government can meet the increasing demand of citizens. In Laos, for instance, despite an agricultural-based country, the government imports farming products from Thailand and Vietnam to provide to local people because they cannot produce sufficient food for their large population.

In conclusion, while I agree with the negative impact of international food, I believe it is more positive.