landfill sites large holes in the ground where people's waste or rubbish is buried
leftovers food that is not eaten
convenience ease of doing something
edible safe or good enough to eat
discarded thrown away
gone off no longer fresh
BOGOF (acronym) buy one, get one free
distribute to give something out to several people
Transcript
Note: This is not a word for word transcript
Rob Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Rob…
Finn … and I'm Finn. Hello.
Rob Hello, Finn. Now, you like food don't you?
Finn Yes, I do.
Rob But how much of it do you actually throw away?
Finn Probably too much although I'm trying to get better at that, Rob.
Rob I'm asking you this because many people around the world throw away
food that's still good enough to eat – this food waste could feed millions of
other people. That's what we're talking about today as well as looking as some
related vocabulary.
Finn Yes, food waste is a big problem. Westock
uponfood
that we don't really need, and we're often tempted by supermarkets toconsume–
or to eat – more.
Rob Before we talk more about this, let's find out what you know about
food waste. So, do you know, according to the United Nations Food and
Agricultural Organisation, what percentage of food is actually wasted?
a) 25%
b)33%
c)50%
Finn 50%, I seem to remember that. I might be wrong.
Rob We'll find out if you're right or wrong later on. But now, here's
another figure for you: In Europe, people throw away 100 million tonnes of
food every year.
Finn Wow, such a waste. Most of this food just ends up rotting inlandfill
sitesand that adds to
another problem – it creates greenhouse gases.
Rob It does. But the problem isn't justusthrowing
awayleftoversin
the fridge or cupboard, as we can hear now from BBC reporter Caroline Hepker.
What are the other reasons that lead to food being wasted?
INSERT
Caroline Hepker, BBC Reporter Typically, supermarkets demand that onions are about two to
two-and-a-quarter inches in diameter. This one will get pretty close to it but
this one is too small, although it is perfectlyedible. The question is, what
happens to it then? Food waste is a huge issue in America – 40% of all food
goes uneaten and it's a problem that starts long before you get to
the dining-room table.
Finn Another staggering figure there Rob – 40% of all food in America goes
uneaten – it doesn't get eaten.And she explained that supermarkets are partly
to blame.
Rob Yes. We all love theconvenience,
the price and the choice of food that supermarkets offer – but a lot of food
is binned – thrown out – long before it reaches the shelves.
Finn The reporter gave the example of onions: if they're the wrong size,
they can't be sold; they're thrown away even though they’re good enough to eat
– oredible.
Rob There are many other types of fruit and vegetables that arediscarded–
or thrown away – because of their shape and size. And that's our fault really,
because we often think food that looks good is better quality.
Finn Another issue is the 'sell by' and 'use by' dates printed on food
packaging. They confuse customers. Anything older than the 'sell by' date
makes us think it’s old and the food hasgone
off, but in fact this is just the date supermarket wants to sell it
by.
Rob And there is another reason why some of us are encouraged to buy too
much food. Have a listen to working mum, Tara Sherbrooke, about her shopping
habits and see if you can hear what the problem is.
Finn Also, see if you can hear what she does to try and minimise food
waste.
INSERT
Tara Sherbrooke I try very hard to meal-plan because as a working mum and having a
busy family, I really try to make sure that there’s enough food at the
beginning of the week. I find it very difficult to walk pass two-for-one
offers especially on things that we use. I even find it hard to walk past them
when they're items I’ve never purchased before – I stop and look!
Finn So she is a busy working mum and she tries to meal-plan – she plans
the family's meals for the week and works out what to buy.
Rob But she still gets tempted by the two-for-one offers. That's when you
buy one item and you get another one of the same item for free.
Finn Buy-one-get-one-free – or as it's sometimes known,BOGOF!
You can get a bargain but it also means we sometimes buy too much of
something. If it's fresh produce, it might go off before you get to use it
all.
Rob But in other parts of the world people struggle to buy even the most
basic food. A report by the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation found that
there is enough food for everyone, just a lot of inefficiency. So what can be
done?
Finn Well things are being done. Apps and websites thatdistributeexcess
food are becoming more popular.
Rob And food banks are being set up too. These are charitable
organisations people donate food to. It's then distributed to those who have
difficulty buying their own food. And one trial project in New York requires
the city's restaurants to stop sending food waste to landfills by 2015. But at
the moment, globally, there's still a lot of food being thrown away. And Finn,
I asked you how much? Is it 25%, 33% or 50% of all food produced?
Finn I said half – 50%.
Rob According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation,
the answer is 33%. Still not good. It also found the amount of land needed to
grow all the food wasted in the world each year would be the size of Mexico.
Well, that brings us to the end of today's 6 Minute English. We hope you
enjoyed today’s programme. Please join us again soon.
Both Bye
Observa el gráfico y contesta a las preguntas que se hacen a continuación:
ACTIVIDADES
1.-Look at the chart and answer the following questions:
In which area of the ones described here is there more malnutrition?
Where is there less malnutrition?
2.-Mark the right answer.
In eastern Asia there is:
- About double malnutrition than in southern Asia
- About the third part of malnutrition than in southern Asia
- About half of malnutrition than in southern Asia
3.-Could you tell approximately which percentage of malnutrition, in
relation to the world, is there in sub-Saharan Africa?
4.-According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation, what
percentage of food is wasted?
a) 25%
b) 33%
c) 50%
5.-Just as you are answering this question, how many pounds of food have been
wasted in the USA since the beginning of 2014?
