Reducing Food Waste
Practise understanding practical solutions and making supported recommendations.
1 · Read
A community centre recently ran a four-week challenge to reduce household food waste. Participants first measured the food they threw away. Many were surprised to discover that fresh vegetables, bread and cooked rice were the most common items.
During the challenge, families planned meals before shopping, checked their cupboards and froze food they could not use immediately. They also learned that best-before dates usually describe quality, while use-by dates relate to safety. By the final week, the average household had reduced its avoidable food waste by nearly one third. Several families also reported spending less on groceries.
able to be prevented
a date showing when food is expected to be at its best quality
2 · Listen
Listen to two participants reflecting on the challenge.
3 · Answer five questions
1. What did participants do first?
2. Which item was commonly wasted?
3. What is a use-by date mainly connected with?
4. What helped the first speaker buy less?
5. What was the purpose of the eat first shelf?
4 · Speak
Recommend two realistic ways a household can waste less food. Explain how each idea would help and give an example.
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5 · Self-check
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Teacher answers · B1 Reducing Food Waste
- They measured the food they threw away.
- Bread.
- Safety.
- Planning three evening meals before shopping.
- To make food that needed using soon easy to see.
Listening transcript: What made the biggest difference in your house? Planning three evening meals before shopping. We bought fewer things just because they were on special. For us, it was creating an eat first shelf in the fridge. Everyone could see which food needed to be used soon. That's clever. We may try that next week.
Speaking: Answers will vary. Look for two feasible recommendations, clear cause-and-effect language and an example.