This is an IELTS writing task 2 sample answer essay on the topic of genetically modified foods from the real IELTS exam.
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One of the most important issues facing the world today is a shortage of food and some think genetically modified foods are a possible solution.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?
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Dave
Many people are starving all over the world due to food scarcity, and some are suggesting that one way of combatting this global phenomenon is through modifying the genetics of food. While scientifically enhancing food elements might be an effective way to expand food resources, I disagree that it would do much in terms of curbing worldwide hunger because this scientific innovation will most likely only benefit countries with financial capabilities and ultimately still leave the poorest of the poor lacking food.
Modifying the DNA structure of food offers endless possibilities to humans. Unbeknownst to some people, this innovation is not new and has been used for a long time to grow fruits without seeds as an example. If we move forward with this innovation, we can increase the number of plants we grow, or decrease the harvesting time needed for fruits to ripen. As a result, there would be more food for people to consume.
However, despite its potential, the cost is one reason why this practice is not implemented worldwide. Genetically modifying food is an expensive process so countries that are already struggling financially to feed their citizens, will not be able to afford this kind of technology. Poverty-stricken societies, mostly living in third-world countries with little to no access to sophisticated innovations, will remain hungry, thereby, not solving this global dilemma. A similar example is vertical farming. This agricultural innovation allows fruits and vegetables to be grown in tall buildings, but despite its tangible benefits to the environment, most countries fail to adopt this technology due to budget. The same can be said in terms of food genetics.
In conclusion, although the modification of food genetics can increase food resources, this does not mean that the benefit will extend to poor countries, and the poor with no budget to keep up with this technology will continue to starve. Therefore, governments all over the world should get involved and look into a more practical way of dealing with famine.
By the way, for those who are correcting their own essays, one way to check grammar is via Grammarly. I downloaded it as a chrome extension, and I would paste my work on gmail so it detects my error. BUT of course, do this only after you’re done writing an essay, otherwise it’s cheating 🙂
well done mate.
Agreed! Try to balance your body paragraphs a bit better, Chris!
World population and dependent rate is increasing daily so, the biggest challenge is to produce adequate foods. Some people think that genetically modify foods is a good option. I agree with this because, genetically improved foods can produce more harvest, adhere to different weather condition and also produce it in short duration.
In the past, usually people grow two or three seasons in every year. So that was enough for their consumption throughout the year. Due to higher population and different food choices, it has more demand for foods nowadays. As a result, many countries enhanced their testing and invest more money for genetic improvements. It has been shown great success so far and, we can see those foods are now in the supermarkets. If I take my country as an example, Sri Lankan has been working two seasons each year those days. But nowadays they produce some foods all over the year because of the genetic improvements.
Genetically modified foods can adhere to the different weather conditions and produce more harvest than traditional foods. Some people discuss the bad effects of the heretical improvements. Even though we all know it has bad effects, we have no choice to reject it. Still we have the choice to purchase organic foods. But those are more expensive, and everyone cannot afford those in daily basis. If I take chicken meat as an example, it has higher demand, and we cannot fulfill the demand without changing DNA. In These days chicken meat can produce within 45 days.
Finally, even though it has some bad effects genetically modified food is a good option unless we find another good way to feed hungry people.
Love your examples – keep doing that.
Lots of little mistakes with grammar and vocabulary thought, so keep working on those!
Food scarcity is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. Some people advocate that genetically modified foods can be a viable solution to this problem. From my perspective, this might pose some risk, however, I am largely in agreement with this suggestion.
To begin with, why I believe that modified organisms might be the key component of this issue, modified organisms are basically made with altering DNA sequences by genetic engineers, therefore this approach offers endless possibilities to humans. To illustrate this, by changing the DNA structure of food, an upward trend can be maintained in the nutrition levels which food contains, as a result, people who have access to an only limited amount of food might not be suffered from malnutrition a problem which even leads to death. What is more, these changes in genetic material might improve the yield of food, thus with less labour, more people can obtain these valuable nourishments.
Moving onto the reason why I claim this might not be an effective solution to hunger, even today most people are not dying from the shortage of food, they are dying on account of the inequity in access to food. Even genetic engineering solved this lack of food problem, this solution will be only available to people who can afford it, hence poverty-stricken people will keep dying from undernourishment.
All in all, what can be concluded from the aforementioned remarks that although genetic engineering might solve this lack of food problem, there will be people who cannot afford it.
Nice essay, NilĂĽfer!
Really accurate and nice ideas.
The 3rd paragraph could be longer and could use a more specific example. Try rewriting that one.
Over the decades, the advancement of technology increased giving rise for many innovations such as foods which are genetically engineered. Nowadays one of the most important problem faced by the world is food shortage. Few people think that a good solution for this would be genetically modified foods. In my opinion, I believe with the increase of food shortage, the new type of agriculture will be much beneficial.
All around the world, especially many countries in Africa is going though food shortage, where people are starving of hunger each day with no way to getting access to healthy foods. With the introduction of genetically engineered food, lives of these peoples will change massively. Modified food types are been altered to contain all the nutrients such as vitamins and minerals which the body is required in-order to stay healthy making the population healthier than ever before.
With regards to governments, it would be easier to cultivate these types of foods due to reasons for which to grow they require controlled environments which may also result in less labour. The prices may drop with less labour going into production and less resources needed than normal agriculture. Furthermore, extensive number of researches and tests have been conducted with some still going on, the data of these have proven that the newly innovated agriculture food sources show no side effects and risks to the human body.
In conclusion, with the help of genetically engineered foods the shortage of foods around world may drop and populations will be healthier than ever before and governments should promote and fund these types of new innovations.
please can anyone give an estimated band score for this essay and would highly appreciate if tips were given to improve.❤️
Excellent work, Upendra!
While one of the major challenges faced in the 21st century is that of food availability, some believe that genetically engineered crops are a potential solution for the same.
I completely back this idea as hybrid crops can be grown in odd weather and are resistant to some diseases.
The primary reason why hybrid plants contributes to food security is that they can be grown in unfavorable environments. This is to say that crops are seasonal and its yield depends on weather conditions, thus, some crops can be grown under controlled climatic conditions such as in poly houses. As a result, not only the yield of the crops is enhanced but also food is available throughout the year. To cite an example, Dubai has reduced its food dependency on imports by 30 percent as they are able to cultivate crops in a desert using hybrid crops grown in a maintained environment. Thus, countries are becoming self-sufficient in the terms of food security and are reducing malnutrition problems in their nations.
Another reason is that genetically modified crops are resistant to some natural diseases such as fungal attacks and their regeneration time is reduced. As the new plants can withstand natural attacks and can reproduce in minimal amount of time, farmers prefer sowing of hybrid plants. Subsequently, the requirement of pesticide use has taken a backseat while the income of farmers has increased, thereby, hybrid plantation is encouraged by farmers. Therefore, getting a sight of winter vegetables in summers is not a big surprise nowadays like carrots in tropical countries like India. For instance, a report published in the editorial section of the Washington post by editor-in-chief Martin Baron in 2015 revealed that genetically enhanced crops has aided the USA to achieve its targets for food safety and security by 50 percent.
To encapsulate, it can be concluded that as the demand of food is rising across the globe, use of hybrid crops is a good solution. I believe they are harvested in all the seasons and their yield is increased over the years since they are prone to natural diseases. Hence, all the nations must encourage farmers to adopt new crops for cultivation in order to resolve food crisis in their country.
Hi,
Can someone check whether the content is appropriate or not.
also are the examples relevant to the arguments?
Thanks in advance.
One of the most important issues facing the world today is a shortage of food and some think genetically modified foods are a possible solution.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?
A highly controversial issue today in the air is apropos with paucity of foods. Some people assert that genetically engineered checkbox is a valid way to cover it as well as has sparkling debate on other side too. This essay looks on the both side. However, I am in side with those decrying propagation of an advancement.
Many people in argue with agricultural development with alternation of old food considerably outweigh its merits.There are numerous countries are suffering from poverty and starving of grains such as Africa and NZ. Reproductive method can bring active change and prosperity. This factor can reduce the labour costs which alternatively government can use for production and cultivation process. Due to climate change and environmental issues farmers are unable to feed their pockets ; This remarkable solution leads in their favour too. Every people today are dimly aware of dangerous future with trade depression and dearness where refashioning process can become beneficial for government and community as well.
On contrary point , in the such cases if the results won’t meet with the expectations then situations become more cruel. It is also possible to say that modified process can loose such vitamins and minerals from the original food which is unhealthy. Going with an advancement of moderate lifestyle it raising the scope of side effects and even leads to death also.
To sum up , Both side have major influences on their advantages and disadvantages. It should be countered by concerned with government and citizen’s support possible. Although this thought is an unlikely to-be entirely eliminated in a short term period with better development of technology. In my opinion It is a valuable suggestion of modify the genetic foods.
Good work, Hemangi!
In recent decades, the lack of foods is becoming a massive problem worldwide. Using genetically modified foods (GMO) can be treated as one of the best methods to tackle this issue.
The primary reason for using GMO foods is that they provide an alternative option for farmers to produce at a lower cost. In fact, the production of GMO foods should require less freshwater, fewer pesticides compare to conventional crops. As a result, the farmers may produce the same number of foods at much less price. Furthermore, the price of modified foods also can be attracted to buyers as it can provide cheaper options from them. It can be seen in many developing countries such as Ethiopia or Madagascar, where locals can purchase GMO foods at a reasonable price as the price is 15% less than traditional foods.
Another reason is that genetically modified foods can provide better nutrients to consumers. Due to the research from New York times, thanks to the combination among various kind of foods, it has created the new types of African crops have much more vitamins than traditional crops. It has brought a huge opportunity to farmers in regions where people suffer from nutritional deficiencies. Chad Republic, for example, is one of the poorest countries in Africa, where it does not have much soil with enough nutrients for cultivation. Based on new types of GMO foods, Chad’s national economy has grown massively for the last decade.
In conclusion, the growth of GMO foods is provided the new opportunity for farmers in business world. At the same time, its foods can also bring a higher quality of nutrients to customers
Nice Jimmy and sorry for the late reply – hope your studies are going well!
Overpopulation is one of the most challenging issues among others like globalization, climate change, and deforestation. Around 40 years ago the experts implemented a new project to solve the problem, they initiated to grow GM foods. In the last couple of years, GMO veggies and fruits were spread all over the planet. Many people speak about the negative and positive sides of GM foods, but no one knows what is best for human health.Â
The primary reason why GM food was created was hunger in undeveloped countries. A couple of decades have passed the problem still exists. In fact, the poor countries are getting poorer and developed countries are refusing consumption of such kinds of food. For instance, in Europe, it is forbidden to plant GM vegetables and fruits due to protect the ecosystem. Furthermore, bumblebees and other insects do not eat GM food eventually, do not pollinate the environment. This became a serious question for scientists putting the entire continent in danger.Â
In addition, GM foods are new to human DNA, meaning we do not know how they affect our bodies in long term. 30 years of observation seems to be not enough to answer the solid questions. Food is fuel and people are extremely careful what they put inside, even though GM foods cost noticeably affordable some people still prefer to buy organic food.Â
In conclusion, nowadays GM foods are presented in many countries as alternatives. However not every country is considering GM foods healthy nutrition. In addition, hundreds of doctors believe that GM food was not researched enough. Only time can tell what are consequences. I personally believe that GM foods are not the best solution, it is significant that businesses and government work together and carry on studying these types of foods.
Nice ideas but work on the balance of your paragraphs, Sally.
The conclusion is way too long!
Some people claim that genetically modified foods are the viable solution to curbing the hunger issue throughout the world. Although I agree with this viewpoint, I believe some measures in changing people’s perspective toward these foods should be done in advance.
There is an assumption that scientifically enhanced foods will reduce the problem of food scarcity since one commonly cited advantage of these foods is their mass production as well as their longer shelf life that grossly contributes to alleviating hunger worldwide, especially in poorer countries. In other words, these crops are more abundant, cheaper, and last longer than conventional agricultural products, so they do not decay before reaching the consumer. Moreover, they are more resistant to harmful insects, parasites, and fungi, making them more appealing in terms of mentioned issues and particularly for nations with outdated farming methods.
Nevertheless, there are a number of significant negative points to these nascent types of food, the first of which is their unknown potential dire repercussions to our health. Some studies have declared that these foods will eventually affect our organisms adversely since they have not been used for so long, so their consequences will be flagged up in upcoming decades. Furthermore, not inclined are most people to eat these foods because they prefer those that have not been tampered with in laboratories. Thus, they do not currently help reduce famine throughout the globe, which is a drawback. Should they assist in decreasing starvation rates, the public has to be psychologically persuaded to consume them beforehand by informing them about their benefits.
In conclusion, I support modifying the genetics of food as one of the feasible helpful steps that can be taken to combat the global concern of food shortage, however, more research as well as notifying about their positive side to the society is needed.
Good work, Zeinab!
Some really good adjectives and collocations in your writing that other students can learn a lot from!
Careful of some informal ones like ‘flagged up’ – keep working hard!