托福独立写作：农业食物给持续增长的人口VS破坏环境

托福写作题目：Modern agriculture methods damage the environment, but providing food for the growing population around the world is more important than protecting the environment.(养活人口重要还是保护环境重要?)

托福写作参考范文：

Modern agriculture methods like the use of pesticides and artificial fertilizers are widely used around the world. Along with such brings forth negative effects. The most obvious and detrimental impact of modern agriculture methods is environmental degradation. Many people believe that the environmental risks should not be taken into consideration since many people are suffering from the lack of food. I certainly disagree with this.

To begin with, despite the fact that there are people who suffer from starvation, the reason is not because of the lack of food. As a matter of fact, tons of grains and corns are wasted every year. If the government and the general public really care about starving people, they should have enough ability and adequate materials to offer help. People suffer just because of bad management, worldwide corruption, and terrible indifference. So there is no need to destroy wilderness areas or use environmentally-damaging agricultural methods to increase productivity. The world nowadays has more food than we need. As long as corruption and bad management are eradicated, the world would see less people starving.

Besides, the statement asserts that providing food for a growing number of people is more urgent than the protection of environment. I find this statement totally unconvincing. People’s survival depends on the environment. More often than not, whenever the environment gets damaged, the deleterious effects are always irreversible. In other words, once the environment on which we depend on is disrupted, our lives are placed at risk. Modern agriculture, although it provides enough food, has contaminated the water and soil. When people eat crops grown with polluted water and soil, diseases will break out sooner or later. Genetically modified crops, although their negative effects are not obvious and not yet confirmed, should also be treated with great care, for it is reported that dogs, cats, and other pets become sick after ingesting GM food. If human beings are negatively affected by modern agriculture, untold dire consequences will arise. People will suffer from diseases and the government will shoulder considerable medical bills. Worse, the society may become unstable and inharmonious.

From the above discussion, I can draw the conclusion that there are other more effective methods to address starvation. No matter how much food we produce, as long as corruption and wasteful use exist, there will always be starving people. Besides, a healthy natural environment is a basic requirement of our survival. We cannot increase food production at the expense of our environment, lest we are bound to suffer for our inconsideration and recklessness.