Foreign Food: IELTS Sample Essay

Hey folks. Today, I would like to share with you a sample band 9 answer that I have written. It is all about the topic of foreign food vs local food, which is an issue that is sometimes raised during the IELTS exam.

Rather than just give you the question and answer like most teachers, I prefer to show you how I wrote this answer and why this answer would score band 9.

For more discussion on the IELTS topic of food, see here. Alternatively, you might like this YouTube video:

The Question: Foreign (or Imported) Food

Here is the question that we will answer today:

In many countries, more and more people choose to buy imported food rather than food produced locally.

Why do people buy imported food?

What could be done to encourage people to buy local food?

This is a two-part question, meaning that you should try to answer both parts clearly. For this type of question, I almost always recommend the following structure:

So what is the main issue here and how can we analyse it properly?

The broad topic is imported food vs locally-sourced food. Another way to say this is foreign food vs local food, but please note the difference between “foreign” and “imported.”

Basically, these words can mean the same thing but “foreign food” could be a foreign style of dish that is made with local ingredients. For example, pizza is an Italian food but I could make it with all local ingredients. It is therefore both foreign and local.

On the other hand, “imported food” must have been shipped in from another country.

Essentially, this question asks us two things: Why this happens and what we can do to change people’s mind.

Note: It does not ask you whether it is a good or bad thing, so please do not give an opinion! You should not say “I think we should eat more imported food!” This is not a valid answer here.

Thinking of Answers

Sometimes it can be difficult to brainstorm answers for IELTS writing. Questions like this might inspire some people… but others might draw a blank. (This phrase means “unable to think of something.”)

You can start by noting down various ideas but remember this one really important point:

It is better to fully develop one strong idea than to list many weak ones.

For my essays, I usually try to pick just one big idea and then use that for a whole paragraph. I might add another in the final sentence just to emphasise the fact that there are more ideas supporting mine, but IELTS examiners want to see that you can develop your paragraphs fully.

The Introduction

Your IELTS introduction should have 2-4 sentences. The first sentence should be very general and will introduce the topic:

In the twentieth century, it became common for people to consume food and buy goods that were produced in other countries, rather than being locally sourced.

Here, I have provided a brief history of the issue to introduce it. This is often a good idea. Just remember to pay attention to the introductory phrase and how that affects your verb tenses. Many IELTS candidates write things like “In recent years, people are going…” However, “In recent years” would require the use of the present perfect tense.

Next, I will focus my introduction on the specific issue:

Nowadays, even a single product may contain ingredients that come from dozens of different places around the world.

I have set up the main argument: imported food vs local food.

Notice that I have not given an opinion. This is because none was required. I have also not given an essay overview. I usually do, but today I wanted to show you something different. 🤪

Body Paragraph #1

The first body paragraph should answer the first question:

Why do people buy imported food?

You should begin with a topic sentence that tells your reader what this paragraph is about:

There are a few reasons why people buy imported food, but the main factor is cost.

Next, you need to make sure that each sentence further develops this idea by explaining it or giving an example of it. My next sentence would further explain what I mean by “the main factor is cost”:

While it may seem counterintuitive, food from far away can actually cost less than food grown locally.

I have written this because many people would think of imported food as expensive, so I need to make it abundantly clear to my reader that this is not always the case. I will offer another sentence to further clarify my idea:

This is because certain areas specialise in certain kinds of product, and trade networks allow it to be shipped quickly and cheaply to other countries.

Now that my idea is fully developed, I will give an example to make it even more obvious to the reader:

Take bananas, for example. To grow bananas in the UK would be incredibly expensive because they require heat and humidity, which would mean constructing a special type of greenhouse. However, they grow easily in the tropics and can be shipped to the UK, where they are sold in supermarkets for very low prices.

These three sentences build up my example and tie it very specifically to the question. I have introduced the example (bananas) and then explained why and how they are grown, and what this means for places like the UK. The final sentence acts like a sort of summary of the paragraph, bringing it back to my main idea of cost.

Body Paragraph #2

Next, we should answer the second question:

What could be done to encourage people to buy local food?

Again, we need a topic sentence to introduce our paragraph and make it clear to the reader what they will find out.

Some people think that we ought to use more local products because even though it may be cheap to ship things around the world, it is bad for the environment.

Is this really a good topic sentence? It doesn’t really answer the question…

Actually, I am setting up the main idea by leading the reader from my first paragraph into the second. This sentence functions as a link between the two paragraphs. I will then introduce my suggestion:

By educating people about this problem, many of them would switch to using locally-sourced products.

Here we have the topic sentence. It suggests my answer to the question, which is: EDUCATION!

I will develop this further with an example:

In fact, in many western countries, people are willing to pay more for such things.

This example shows that the idea is not completely ridiculous. It has already worked in some places.

I will give more detail:

Supermarkets usually promote meat and vegetables from local farms, and restaurants proudly use local ingredients.

This extends my example with more specific ideas.

Of course, this isn’t really talking that much about education, so why did I mention it? Well, it leads into the final sentence that ties these issues together:

However, the average person needs to want these goods in his life, so education is important in making a bigger changer.

Conclusion

It’s important not to provide a very long conclusion. Just summarise your main idea and then refer back to a couple of supporting points.

My first concluding sentence would summarise body paragraph #1:

In conclusion, the vast trade networks created during the twentieth century have brought the world to the point where most people can get food that has been imported from another country.

Then the second sentence would deal with body paragraph #2:

If this is to be changed, people will need to appreciate local suppliers.

The Full Sample Answer

In the twentieth century, it became common for people to consume food and buy goods that were produced in other countries, rather than being locally sourced. Nowadays, even a single product may contain ingredients that come from dozens of different places around the world.

There are a few reasons why people buy imported food, but the main factor is cost. While it may seem counterintuitive, food from far away can actually cost less than food grown locally. This is because certain areas specialise in certain kinds of product, and trade networks allow it to be shipped quickly and cheaply to other countries. Take bananas, for example. To grow bananas in the UK would be incredibly expensive because they require heat and humidity, which would mean constructing a special type of greenhouse. However, they grow easily in the tropics and can be shipped to the UK, where they are sold in supermarkets for very low prices.

Some people think that we ought to use more local products because even though it may be cheap to ship things around the world, it is bad for the environment. By educating people about this problem, many of them would switch to using locally-sourced products. In fact, in many western countries, people are willing to pay more for such things. Supermarkets usually promote meat and vegetables from local farms, and restaurants proudly use local ingredients. However, the average person needs to want these goods in his life, so education is important in making a bigger changer.

In conclusion, the vast trade networks created during the twentieth century have brought the world to the point where most people can get food that has been imported from another country. If this is to be changed, people will need to appreciate local suppliers.

Notes

This answer was perhaps slightly advanced because I used some unusual techniques, but it nonetheless follows a simple structure and uses pretty simple language. Remember: Accuracy is more important than so-called advanced vocabulary.

My body paragraphs each presented one idea. These were developed in different ways but I did not fall into the trap of just adding lots of ideas. That is not really supporting your topic sentence and would make it less likely for you to score highly in Coherence and Cohesion.

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