BBC 英语学习 食物浪费

English from BBC, learning English. Hello, and welcome to Six Minute English.

I'm Rob, and I'm Finn. Hello.

Hello, finn. Now, you like food, don't you?

Oh, yes, I do. But how much of it do you actually throw away?

Probably too much, although I'm trying to get better at that.

Rob very good while I'm asking you this, because many people around the world throw away food that 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 at some related vocabulary.

Yes, food waste is a big problem.

So we stock up on food that we don't really need, and we are often tempted by supermarkets to consume or to eat more.

Um, 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 Organization, what percentage of food is actually wasted?

Is it A 25 %? B 33% or C 50 %?

50 %? Wow. Yeah, that's a lot.

I seem to remember that. Okay, it might be wrong.

Well, 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 a hundred million tons of food every year.

Wow, such a waste. Most of this food just ends up rotting in landfill sites, and that adds to another problem.

It creates greenhouse gases. It does fin But the problem isn't just us throwing away leftovers in the fridge or the cupboard.

As we can hear now from BBC reporter Caroline Hepka, what are the other reasons that leads to food being wasted?

Typically, supermarkets demand that onions are about two to two in a quarter inches in diameter.

This one will get pretty close to it.

But this one is too small, though it is perfectly edible.

The question is, what happens to it then?

Food waste is a huge issue in America.

40% of all food goes uneaten.

It's a problem that starts long before you get to the dining room table.

Yes. And another staggering figure there rob percent of all food in America goes uneaten.

It doesn't get eaten. And she explained that supermarkets are partly to blame.

Yes, we all love the convenience, the price and the choice of food supermarkets offer, but a lot of food is bend thrown out long before it reaches the shelves.

Yes, and 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 or edible.

There are many other types of fruit and vegetables that are discarded or thrown away because of their shape and size, And that's awful, really, because we often think food that looks good is better quality.

And another issue is the sell by and used by dates printed on food packaging.

They confuse customers. Anything older than the cell by date makes us think that it's old and the food has gone off.

But in fact, this is just the date the supermarket wants to sell it by.

And there's another reason why some of us are encouraged to buy too much food.

Have a listen to working among Tara Sherbrook about her shopping habits, and see if can hear what the problem is.

Also see if you can hear what she does to try and minimize food waste.

I try very hard to meal plan, because as a working mom and having a busy family, I really try to make sure that is enough food.

At the beginning of the week, I find it very difficult to walk past two for one offers, especially on things that um that we use.

I even find a hard to walk past than when there.

When there are items that I had never purchased before, I stop and look.

So she's a busy working mom, and she tries to meal plan.

She plans the family's meals for the week and works out what to buy.

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.

Yes, as we call it, buy one, get one free.

Or, as it sometimes known, B-O-G-F bogovo, you can get a bargain.

But it also means that we sometimes buy too much of something.

If it's fresh produce, it might go off before you get to use it all.

But in other parts of the world, people struggled to buy even the most basic food.

A report by the UNS Food and Agricultural Organization found that there is enough food for everyone, just a lot of inefficiency.

So what can be done? Hmm.

Well, things are being done. Apps and websites that distribute excess food are becoming more popular, and food banks are being set up too.

These are charitable

organizations. People donate food too. 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 thin.

I asked you, how much is it?

25 %? 33% of 50% of all food produced?

I said half. I said 50 %.

Is it as bad as that?

Rob According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, the answer is 33 %.

OK? Still not good. No. 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 six minute English We hope you've enjoyed today's program.

Please join us again soon. Bye.

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