The future of food - 6 Minute English

Neil: Hello. This is 6 Minute English. I'm Neil.

Sam: And I'm Sam.

Neil: Sam, have you considered the future

of food much?

Sam: Well I think in the future I might have

a sandwich – in about 30 minutes in the future.

Neil: 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.

Sam: Ah, yes I have heard about this –

there are all sorts of developments from

growing artificial meat to developing

insect-based foods.

Neil: Mmm, 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?

Sam: No idea. I’m going to say Africa, but

that's just a guess.

Neil: OK. Well I will reveal the answer later

in the programme. On a recent edition of

BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme 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?

Dr Morgaine Gaye: 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.

Neil: So what two things does

she think about?

Sam: 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.

Neil: 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.

Sam: She also looks at why people

latch onto particular trends.

To latch onto here means to be very

interested in something.

So if you latch onto a particular

food trend, you start to follow that trend,

you might start eating that particular diet.

Neil: Information about future trends

is very important for companies in the

food business. How does she actually

predict these trends?

Sam: 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.

Neil: Let’s listen again.

Dr Morgaine Gaye: As a food futurologist

I think about not just what we'e 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.

Neil: Dr Gaye goes on to talk about

how on the subject of food,

there are restrictions. Why is that?

Dr Morgaine Gaye: Food business of

course has different restrictions around it

because it’s about safety, we’re ingesting

that. The supply chain and the labelling

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.

Neil: So why restrictions?

Sam: 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.

Neil: It can be a long process

of developing a new food and getting in

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.

Dr Morgaine Gaye: Food business of

course has different restrictions

around it because it’s about safety,

we’re ingesting that, the supply chain

and the labelling 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.

Neil: 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?

Sam: I made a guess at Africa.

Neil: Well I’m afraid that’s not right.

Congratulations though to everyone

who said South America.

Right, let’s recap our words

and expressions.

Sam: OK, 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.

Neil: 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.

Sam: If you latch onto something,

you become interested in it and

associate yourself with it – we heard that

people very quickly latch onto

food trends.

Neil: 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.

Sam: 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.

Neil: OK, thank you Sam.

That’s all from 6 Minute

English. Goodbye!

Sam: Bye bye!