Food Waste Is a Huge, Worldwide Problem (488 Words)

Last week, the United Nations (UN) released the most complete report ever created on
the global problem of food waste. It found that the world wastes about 17% of all the
food produced. That’s about a billion tons of food a year.
A billion tons is a lot of food – it’s over 2 trillion (2,000,000,000,000) pounds or about
931 billion (931,000,000,000) kilograms. The report says that the amount wasted is
roughly twice as much as earlier studies had suggested.
The report was produced by the UN’s Environment Program (UNEP) and covered food
waste around the world in 2019. The study looked a several different ways in which food
is wasted – at home, in restaurants and in stores.
It turns out that by far, most food waste – about 61% – happens at home. On average, the
amount of food thrown out at home works out to about 163 pounds (74 kilograms) for
each person every year.
Restaurants were responsible for about 26% of the food wasted. The remaining 13% was
thrown away by stores.
One surprising discovery was that food was wasted at about the same rate in all but the
poorest countries. (The UN had difficulty measuring food waste in the poorest countries).
Many people thought rich countries were more likely to waste food than countries that
were less rich. That turned out not to be true. In fact, some richer countries wasted far
less food than average.
But people in richer countries may waste less food at home because they are eating out at
restaurants more often. That certainly seems to be the case in the US, which has low
waste numbers for homes, but quite high numbers for restaurants.
In some cases, labels might be causing food waste, the report said. People might be
throwing away food even though it’s still good to eat, simply because the container’s
“Best By” or “Sell By” date has passed. In poorer countries, food may be wasted because
not all homes have a refrigerator.

One important thing to understand is that the UN’s report looks at food as it is sold. That
means that “food waste” also includes the parts of food that can’t be eaten, such as bones
and shells, or pits, seeds, and peels from fruit.
Why is wasting food such a problem? For one thing, the report points out, hundreds of
millions of people went hungry in 2019.
But wasting food is also really bad for the planet. Farming creates between 10% and 30%
of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions – the pollution that’s making the climate crisis
worse. So when food gets thrown out, the pollution is created for nothing.
The UNEP report says that its important for countries to study food waste more carefully
in order to figure out ways to solve the problem.
Some possible uses for food waste include making food for animals, creating compost to
help crops grow, or burning food scraps to create energy. The important thing is to keep
food from simply going into the dump.
QUESTIONS:
No. T F
1 The United Nations released a report that the world wastes about 20%
of the total amount of food produced in the world.
2 The report found that the amount that previous research suggested was
only half the amount actually wasted.
3 According to research by the United Nations Environment Program
(UNEP) conducted in 2019, most food waste occurs in restaurants.
4 The amount of food wasted in restaurants is less than the amount of
food thrown away by stores.
5 Food is wasted at the same rate in all countries around the world,
including the poorest.
6 Some rich countries waste less food than less rich countries compared
to the world average.
7 The amount of waste in American households is quite low, indicating
that they waste little food at home but is quite high in stores and
restaurants.
8 Food can be wasted in poor countries around the world due to
insufficient economic conditions to preserve food.
9 Inedible food parts are not “Food Waste”
10 Some “food waste” can be reused as energy, fertilizer or animal feed.

KEYS:
No. T F
1 The United Nations released a report that the world wastes about 20% X
of the total amount of food produced in the world.
“Because according to a United Nations report, the world wastes
about 17% of the total amount of food produced.” ( from paragraph 1
line 2)
2 The report found that the amount that previous research suggested was X
only half the amount actually wasted.
“Because twice as much money is wasted as compared to published
studies.” ( from paragraph 2 line 2,3)
3 According to research by the United Nations Environment Program X
(UNEP) conducted in 2019, food waste occurs in restaurants.
“Because most food waste occurs at home, about 61% according to
the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Report." ( from
paragraph 3, paragraph 4 line 1 )
4 The amount of food wasted in restaurants is less than the amount of X
food thrown away by stores.
“Since the amount of food wasted in restaurants is about 26% and the
amount of food thrown away in stores is 13%, the amount of food
wasted in restaurants is greater than the amount of food thrown away
in stores.” ( from paragraph 5)
5 Food is wasted at the same rate in all countries around the world, X
including the poorest.
“Because the United Nations has difficulty measuring food waste in
the poorest countries.” ( from paragraph 6)
6 Some rich countries waste less food than less rich countries compared X
to the world average.
“In fact, some rich countries waste much less food than average.”
( from paragraph 7 line 2,3)
7 The amount of waste in American households is quite low, indicating X
that they waste little food at home but is quite high in stores and
restaurants.
“Because Americans eat at restaurants more often, they waste less
food at home, leading to low household waste.” ( from paragraph 8 )
8 Food can be wasted in poor countries around the world due to X
insufficient economic conditions to preserve food.
“Some poor countries have limited economic resources, so preserving
food is quite difficult."( from paragraph 9 line 3,4)
9 Inedible food parts are not “Food Waste” X
“According to the United Nations, after selling food, the inedible part
is also "food waste". ( from paragraph 10)
10 Some “food waste” can be reused as energy, fertilizer or animal feed. X
“Some "food waste" can be recycled for a variety of uses”. ( from last
paragraph )

VOCABULARY:
NO. New word Meaning Example
1 Worldwide (adj) Spanning the world A large meteorite impact
would cause worldwide
extinction of life.
2 Refrigerator (n) A household appliance used for My brother has an
keeping food fresh by extremely modern
refrigeration (short form refrigerator.
 fridge).
3 Measuring (adj) Denoting an instrument or
device used to ascertain the
size, amount, or degree of
something.
4 Compost (n) The decayed remains of
organic matter that has rotted
into a natural fertilizer.
5 Rate (n) A measure, quantity, or
frequency, typically one
measured against some other
quantity or measure.
6 Create (v) To create simply means to
make or bring into existence.
7 Waste (adj) Use or expend carelessly,
extravagantly, or to no purpose.
8 Pollution (n) The act of polluting or the state
of being polluted, especially
the contamination of the
environment by harmful
substances.
9 Throw away (v) Throw or cast away.
10 Worse (adj) Of poorer quality or lower
standard; less good or
desirable.
11 Figure out (v) Find information or results
about certain events or
phenomena that have the
purpose of the acting subject.
12 Crisis (n) A time of intense difficulty,
trouble, or danger.
13 Responsible (adj) Having an obligation to do
something, or having control
over or care for someone, as
part of one's job or role.
His eyes shift over my
face, and he squints, as if
weighing and measuring
me.
If you compost your grass
clippings, you can
improve your soil.
They were asked to rate
their ability at different
driving maneuvers
He created a new
movement in painting.
Ensure that waste
materials are disposed of
responsibly.
Nobody visits the river
any more because of all
the pollution.
Then he flung his arms
wide as though to throw
away any crumbs of a
grudge he had held
against us.
The accommodations
were awful, and the food
was worse.
They need to figure out
what went wrong.
The economic crisis
affects the global
economy.
She is a hard-working and
responsible employee in
our company.
 14 Amount (n) A quantity of something, The sport gives an
especially the total of a thing or enormous amount of
things in number, size, value, or pleasure to many people.
extent.
15 Suggest (v) Put forward for consideration. They suggested a vacation
destination to their
parents.

Source: Food Waste Is a Huge, Worldwide Problem

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