UN Report Says 17 Percent of Food Is Wasted
2021-03-11
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1The United Nations believes about 17 percent of the world's food goes to waste each year.
2That amounts to 931 million metric tons of food being thrown away from homes, stores and food companies.
3The information comes from the U.N. Environment Program's Food Waste Index Report 2021.
4The report says food waste is not only a problem in rich countries like Britain or the United States.
5It happens in poor countries, too, where food supplies can go bad without cold storage.
6Most of the wasted food - 61 percent - comes from homes.
7The rest comes from stores and food service companies.
8The U.N. is working on ways to reduce food waste and trying to learn how much food becomes unusable before it reaches people.
9It hopes the report will show countries some of the problems so their governments can try to fix them.
10Inger Andersen is the Executive Director of UNEP.
11She said, "Reducing food waste would cut greenhouse gas emissions, slow the destruction of nature through land conversion and pollution."
12Additionally, cutting waste will reduce hunger that is expected to rise during the coronavirus pandemic.
13Researchers say food waste is a growing concern because of the large amount of land and energy required to produce food, raise animals and plant crops.
14They observe that forests are also being cleared to make space for more food production.
15If food waste is reduced, it might be possible to lessen the impact of its production on the world.
16Some large problems exist with the food supply, but there are smaller reasons for waste.
17The report mentioned some of the small problems that could be fixed.
18Sometimes stores offer reduced prices on larger amounts of food.
19When people buy too much food, they do not always use it before it goes bad.
20Also, the writing on food containers can be hard to understand.
21In some cases, the manufacturers put a date that shows when the food will be best to eat.
22Sometimes the food is still good for a number of days after the date, but people will throw it away.
23Food administrators in the U.S. have asked manufacturers to label their products in a way that is easier for people to understand.
24In the U.S., the Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates a family of four wastes about $1,500 worth of food each year.
25Richard Swannell is a co-writer of the UN report.
26He said people in rich countries think differently about wasting food than they used to.
27Just 40 or 50 years ago, most people could not afford to waste food.
28Now that people have more money, they are not as concerned.
29But Swannell does not think that is the right idea.
30"Food is too important to waste," he said.
31I'm Dan Friedell.
1The United Nations believes about 17 percent of the world's food goes to waste each year. That amounts to 931 million metric tons of food being thrown away from homes, stores and food companies. 2The information comes from the U.N. Environment Program's Food Waste Index Report 2021. The report says food waste is not only a problem in rich countries like Britain or the United States. It happens in poor countries, too, where food supplies can go bad without cold storage. Most of the wasted food - 61 percent - comes from homes. The rest comes from stores and food service companies. 3The U.N. is working on ways to reduce food waste and trying to learn how much food becomes unusable before it reaches people. It hopes the report will show countries some of the problems so their governments can try to fix them. 4Inger Andersen is the Executive Director of UNEP. She said, "Reducing food waste would cut greenhouse gas emissions, slow the destruction of nature through land conversion and pollution." Additionally, cutting waste will reduce hunger that is expected to rise during the coronavirus pandemic. 5Why should we care about food waste? 6Researchers say food waste is a growing concern because of the large amount of land and energy required to produce food, raise animals and plant crops. They observe that forests are also being cleared to make space for more food production. If food waste is reduced, it might be possible to lessen the impact of its production on the world. 7Some large problems exist with the food supply, but there are smaller reasons for waste. The report mentioned some of the small problems that could be fixed. 8Sometimes stores offer reduced prices on larger amounts of food. When people buy too much food, they do not always use it before it goes bad. Also, the writing on food containers can be hard to understand. In some cases, the manufacturers put a date that shows when the food will be best to eat. Sometimes the food is still good for a number of days after the date, but people will throw it away. 9Food administrators in the U.S. have asked manufacturers to label their products in a way that is easier for people to understand. In the U.S., the Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates a family of four wastes about $1,500 worth of food each year. 10Richard Swannell is a co-writer of the UN report. He said people in rich countries think differently about wasting food than they used to. Just 40 or 50 years ago, most people could not afford to waste food. Now that people have more money, they are not as concerned. But Swannell does not think that is the right idea. 11"Food is too important to waste," he said. 12I'm Dan Friedell. 13Dan Friedell adapted it this story for Learning English with information from the Associated Press and UNEP. Hai Do was the editor. 14What are the ways you try to save food? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. 15_______________________________________________________________ 16Words in This Story 17greenhouse gas emission -n. air pollution that contributes to the warming of the Earth's atmosphere 18conversion -n. the act or process of changing from one form, state, etc., to another 19label -n. a piece of paper, cloth, or similar material that is attached to something to identify or describe it