Read the text and choose the topic mentioned in each paragraph. One option is extra Deceived by appearance Food waste as an eco problem Possible problem solutions Inequality of food availability Waste sorting Prejudice against cosmetically challenged produce Involuntary inefficient production There is a huge problem with the modern food system. The problem is not about how much we produce, but how much we throw away. Statistics show that up to 40% of all the food is left uneaten and gets wasted in Australia, the USA and some developed European and Asian countries. Millions of tons of good healthy food goes to the bin, while there are millions of people around the world (including the listed countries like the US) who suffer from food insecurity. It's a modern world tragedy. Food is the number one product in landfills nowadays. Decaying and producing methane, it contributes tremendously to the greenhouse effect, thus achieving the third rank among the biggest emitters. The so-called garbage juice (the liquid left from the trash) is dumped into the coastal areas and waters spoiling them to the catastrophic point. About 20-25% of the crops don't even leave the field: they are simply ploughed back under because farmers know these products don't have any commercial value: they are misshapen, pale in colour, the wrong size or have a bit of a blemish — no retailer would purchase them. So farmers have to bear the losses. According to Wasted Land Worldwide, about 30% of all the agricultural land available is used to produce the food which is going to be wasted, thus using trillions of litres of water. Aesthetics is the main reason why good produce is being thrown away. People who live in the world of lavish inexpensive food are inclined to refuse products with physical imperfections. There's a great responsibility on the retailers. They created an image of what the product should look like. What is a regular good apple? A bright shiny fruit of a right shape with no spots or bruises. What about another one, misshapen, a bit pale and slightly bruised, not pretty enough, but in fact, it has the same nutritional value? When choosing between these two apples we consider the first one to be a healthy high-quality product, while the latter is believed to be nearly unsafe to eat. Consumers are blamed for being too picky, for expecting the food to look this or that way, but these are retailers who introduced the beautiful images of produсts which fit in the right box standing on the right shelf, and all the rest are not welcome. What concerns food, we often misuse the notions of "imperfect" and "inedible". The same thing happens when we look at the "best before" date on the package: as a matter of fact, it shows when the produce is best in its quality. It is still safe to be consumed after this date. Enormous variety and abundance make us choose the freshest, the brightest, the most perfect items, neglecting those which don't meet our cosmetic standards. Besides, ugly food, when it is lucky enough to make it into a supermarket, is often largely discounted. The lower is the price, the less we value it. On top of that, there are evident commercial reasons for the retailers not to offer ugly food. Since no one is going to buy imperfect products at the same price as the perfect ones, the first are usually discounted and account for less than 5% of the turnover. Meanwhile, every retailer would rather sell the top produce at the top price. What can we do to change this situation? If you don't mind buying imperfect fruits and vegetables, especially if they are discounted, it will make a difference. We can watch the emergence of companies offering people to come and harvest leftover crops which didn't meet the retailers' standards. If the amount of ugly food sold and, which is more important, consumed grows, there will be some relief for the farmers who will be able to get back some of the expenses. The landfills will get less overwhelmed with decaying trash, the volume of dangerous emissions polluting the air, the water and the soil will decrease, and so on and so forth. As for the food leftovers, the best way to recycle them is to toss in a compost heap, to crush and dry for animal's feed or to burn them in order to generate electricity.

Задание

Read the text and choose the topic mentioned in each paragraph. One option is extra

Deceived by appearance
Food waste as an eco problem
Possible problem solutions
Inequality of food availability
Waste sorting
Prejudice against cosmetically challenged produce
Involuntary inefficient production

There is a huge problem with the modern food system. The problem is not about how much we produce, but how much we throw away. Statistics show that up to 40% of all the food is left uneaten and gets wasted in Australia, the USA and some developed European and Asian countries. Millions of tons of good healthy food goes to the bin, while there are millions of people around the world (including the listed countries like the US) who suffer from food insecurity. It's a modern world tragedy.

Food is the number one product in landfills nowadays. Decaying and producing methane, it contributes tremendously to the greenhouse effect, thus achieving the third rank among the biggest emitters. The so-called garbage juice (the liquid left from the trash) is dumped into the coastal areas and waters spoiling them to the catastrophic point.

About 20-25% of the crops don't even leave the field: they are simply ploughed back under because farmers know these products don't have any commercial value: they are misshapen, pale in colour, the wrong size or have a bit of a blemish — no retailer would purchase them. So farmers have to bear the losses. According to Wasted Land Worldwide, about 30% of all the agricultural land available is used to produce the food which is going to be wasted, thus using trillions of litres of water.

Aesthetics is the main reason why good produce is being thrown away. People who live in the world of lavish inexpensive food are inclined to refuse products with physical imperfections. There's a great responsibility on the retailers. They created an image of what the product should look like. What is a regular good apple? A bright shiny fruit of a right shape with no spots or bruises. What about another one, misshapen, a bit pale and slightly bruised, not pretty enough, but in fact, it has the same nutritional value? When choosing between these two apples we consider the first one to be a healthy high-quality product, while the latter is believed to be nearly unsafe to eat.

Consumers are blamed for being too picky, for expecting the food to look this or that way, but these are retailers who introduced the beautiful images of produсts which fit in the right box standing on the right shelf, and all the rest are not welcome. What concerns food, we often misuse the notions of "imperfect" and "inedible". The same thing happens when we look at the "best before" date on the package: as a matter of fact, it shows when the produce is best in its quality. It is still safe to be consumed after this date. Enormous variety and abundance make us choose the freshest, the brightest, the most perfect items, neglecting those which don't meet our cosmetic standards. Besides, ugly food, when it is lucky enough to make it into a supermarket, is often largely discounted. The lower is the price, the less we value it. On top of that, there are evident commercial reasons for the retailers not to offer ugly food. Since no one is going to buy imperfect products at the same price as the perfect ones, the first are usually discounted and account for less than 5% of the turnover. Meanwhile, every retailer would rather sell the top produce at the top price.

What can we do to change this situation? If you don't mind buying imperfect fruits and vegetables, especially if they are discounted, it will make a difference. We can watch the emergence of companies offering people to come and harvest leftover crops which didn't meet the retailers' standards. If the amount of ugly food sold and, which is more important, consumed grows, there will be some relief for the farmers who will be able to get back some of the expenses. The landfills will get less overwhelmed with decaying trash, the volume of dangerous emissions polluting the air, the water and the soil will decrease, and so on and so forth. As for the food leftovers, the best way to recycle them is to toss in a compost heap, to crush and dry for animal's feed or to burn them in order to generate electricity.

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