Food and Drink (4)
not quite what I meant. With the population of the world increasing, along with the negative
effects of climate change and other global issues, we might have to radically change our
diets in the future. Ah, yes, I have heard about this. There are all sorts of developments from
growing artificial meat to developing insect-based foods. Tasty. Well, we'll look a little more at
this topic shortly but we start as ever with a question and it's a food based question.
In which continent did tomatoes originate? Is it a) South America, b) Africa or c) Asia? What do
you think, Sam? Uh, no idea - I'm going to say Africa but that's just a guess. Okay, well, I
will reveal the answer later in the program. On a recent edition of BBC Radio 4's The Food Program,
there was an interview with Dr Morgaine Gaye. She is a futurologist - a futurologist is someone who
studies and predicts the way we will be living in the future. Her particular area of expertise is
the subject of food. What two things does she say she thinks about? As a food futurologist,
I think about not just what we're going to be eating in the future but why - why that thing,
why that trend, why will people suddenly latch on to that food that way of eating that food
at that particular time. And when I work for large companies that's what they want to know.
There is an element of a hunch and then proving or disproving that hunch. So, what two things
does she think about? She says that as a food futurologist, she thinks about what we will
be eating in the future and also why we will be eating that food. Yes, in particular, she looks
at why there are particular trends - a trend is what is popular now or what is becoming popular.
For example, at the moment there is a trend for eating less red meat. She also looks at why people
latch on to particular trends - to latch onto here means to be very interested in something. So,
if you latch on to a particular food trend you start to follow that trend. You might start eating
that particular diet. Information about future trends is very important for companies in the
food business. How does she actually predict these trends? She says she starts with a hunch - a hunch
is a feeling you get that something is true. You don't have any real evidence but your experience
and knowledge makes you think you might be right. Let's listen again. As a food futurologist,
I think about not just what we're going to be eating in the future but why - why that thing,
why that trend, why will people suddenly latch onto that food that way of eating that food
at that particular time. And when I work for large companies, that's what they want to know.
There is an element of a hunch and then proving or disproving that hunch.
Dr Gaye goes on to talk about how on the subject of food, there are restrictions.
Why is that? Food business, of course, has different restrictions around it because it's
about safety. We're ingesting that. The supply chain and the labeling laws are very stringent,
especially in this country. So it takes a lot longer to get an idea from just a concept that's
discussed around a table to an actual production facility labelled, branded, tested, marketed
and put on the shelf. So why restrictions? Well, it's about safety. Because we are ingesting food,
which is a way of saying we are putting it into our bodies, it has to be safe. It can be a long
process of developing a new food and getting it into the shops because of the need to be safe and
meet the laws of different countries. In the UK, she mentions that the food safety laws are very
stringent. This means that the laws are very tough, very strict. Let's hear Dr Gaye again.
Food business, of course, has different restrictions around it because it's about
safety. We're ingesting that. The supply chain and the labeling laws are very stringent,
especially in this country, so it takes a lot longer to get an idea from just a concept
that's discussed around a table to an actual production facility labelled, branded, tested,
marketed and put on the shelves. Right, well before we review our vocabulary, let's get
the answer to the question. In which continent did tomatoes originate? Is it a) South America,
b) Africa c) Asia? Sam, what did you say? I made a guess at Africa. Well, I'm afraid that's not
right. Congratulations, though, to everyone who said South America. Right, let's recap our words
and expressions. Okay, well we started with the word futurologist - this is a noun to describe
someone who studies and predicts the way we will be living in the future. Then we had trend - this
word can describe what is popular now and the way in which what is popular is changing. For example,
now we are seeing a trend for eating less red meat in some parts of the world. If you latch
on to something you become interested in it and associate yourself with it. We heard that people
very quickly latch on to food trends. Then there was hunch. A hunch is a feeling about something
you think might be true even though you don't have real evidence for it. Ingesting something means
taking it into your body - so eating or drinking it. And finally, a stringent rule is a very strict
rule - a tough rule or law which, in connection to food, is designed to make sure it is safe and of a
suitable quality. Okay, thank you, Sam. That's all from 6 Minute English. Goodbye. Bye-bye.
Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Neil. And hello, I'm Rob. In 6 Minute English, we often
talk about food, don't we, Rob? Oh, yes. And I love food - it's a very important topic. We know
that too much of the wrong kind of food can be bad for our health. But there is another way that
food can be harmful for some people. Yes, you're right - some people have food allergies. They can
become very ill if they eat certain foods such as peanuts, shellfish, milk and so on. So, Neil,
do you have any food allergies? Uh, fortunately, I don't but my daughter is allergic to tree nuts
and so she gets very ill if she eats those. Oh dear. Well, it seems as if there are more food
allergies these days, or more people have them, or maybe it's just in the news more. Well, that's a
very interesting point because that is the topic of this program. Before we find out more though,
here is our question. One of the most common food allergies is to peanuts. Now, what kind of food
is a peanut? Is it a a) vegetable, b) a nut or c) a legume? Oh, come on! A peanut is a nut! There's
a clue in the name there, Neil, but that would be too easy, wouldn't it? So, I'm going to say that
I've got no idea what a legume is, so that's my answer - c. I'll have the answer at the end of the
program. To help answer the question as to whether food allergies are more common now here's Dr Adam
Fox who is speaking on The Food Program on BBC Radio 4. Does he think there has been an increase?
I think we can be very confident, if you look back over say 30 or 40 years, that there are much more
allergic problems around now than there were. So, for example, very robust studies that look at
prevalence of things like eczema, food allergy, do show really significant increases over
20, 30 years, for example. Has there been an increase? Well, yes. He says there have been
significant increases - this means there has been a clear and obvious rise. Why does he think that?
He said that there have been robust studies - a study is a piece of research and if you say
a study is robust, it means that it was very detailed and conducted thoroughly to a high
standard. He said that these studies looked at the prevalence of a few things. Prevalence is a noun
that refers to how common something is, how often it happens. One of the things they looked at,
as well as food allergies, was eczema - this is a skin condition that usually happens in childhood.
The skin can get red, itchy and painful over different parts of the body. Here's Dr Fox again.
I think we can be very confident if you look back over say 30 or 40 years that there are much more
allergic problems around now than there were. So, for example, very robust studies that look at
prevalence of things like eczema, food allergy do show really significant increases over 20,
30 years, for example. So what is the reason for the increase in food allergies? Is it genetics?
Dr Fox again. We certainly can't put it down to genetics and we now understand that there
is a key role for eczema. So there's a pretty direct relationship between whether you've got
eczema during infancy and your likelihood of getting a food allergy. Is it genetics?
No, he says. You can't put it down to genetics, which means you can't explain it by genetics.
In fact, according to the research if you have eczema as a child you are more likely to develop
food allergies. Here's Dr Fox one more time. We certainly can't put it down to genetics and we now
understand that there is a key role for eczema. So there's a pretty direct relationship between
whether you've got eczema during infancy and your likelihood of getting a food allergy.
Okay, now time to review our vocabulary, but first let's have the answer to the quiz question.
I asked: what kind of food is a peanut? Is it a a) vegetable, b) a nut, c) a legume. What did you
say, Rob? Uh, I said c) a legume because that was the only one I didn't know and it can't be
as simple as being a nut. An inspired guess! If you said c) legume, then congratulations!
Despite the name, a peanut is not actually a nut. Rather conveniently though, we don't have time for
me to explain exactly why it's not a nut but i'm sure you're smart enough to look it up yourself.
So you're not going to explain it? No, sorry we don't have the time. Um, sounds to me like
you're allergic to hard work! Nice link to today's vocabulary! We do have time for that.
Today, we've been looking at the topic of food allergies. This is when a particular
food causes a medical problem. The problem could be minor or it could be very serious, even fatal,
and these are called allergic reactions. The topic has been investigated with robust
studies - this is research that has been done in a very detailed accurate and thorough way.
The next word was the noun prevalence - this is used to talk about how common or how frequent
something is. In this research, they examine the prevalence of food allergies in certain age
groups. Closely connected to food allergies is eczema - this is a medical condition that makes
your skin dry painful and itchy over different parts of the body. It was reported that there
had been a significant increase in the number of people suffering from eczema and food allergies.
A significant increase is a big and important increase. And finally, we had the phrase - to
put something down to something. This means to say one thing is the reason for another. In this case,
you couldn't put the increase in food allergies down to genetics. You know what I put the success
