Food Safety

Food has become the source of anxiety to many people. Behind it lies a revolution in the way our food is now produced. The problem is that a vast range of chemicals used on the modern farm have crept into our food. Our diet – the food we eat – is not always healthy.

30% of Americans and 25% of Europeans are fat because they eat too much junk food: humbur gers, popcorn, pizza, chocolate. Why is junk food bad for us? The answer is simple. It contains too much sugar and fat. This is the reason why so many people die of heart diseases.

Finally, there are “additives” – a group of chemicals which food factories use. They make food look better, taste better, last longer. The best recommendation is to stop eating processed foods. Instead there is a diet of fruit, vegetables, brown bread, fish and other “health” foods.

But even health food isn’t always healthy. People don’t just pollute the atmosphere. They pollute themselves too. Modern farmers and food factories use ove three thousand chemicals. Some are “pesticides” which kill insects. A third group are “hormones” – these make animals, like pigs, grou more quickly.

Concem about the health risks caused great demand for organic food, grown without chemicals. Chemicals are replaced by crop rotation. Organie agriculture is also kinder to the environment, the soil and the farm workers.

You may turn your worry about food to action. As a shopper you hare a great deul of influence. How you choose to spend your money shape the supply chair policy. Citizens can choose and campaign fer food that is safe to eat, heaethy for themselves and environment.

Vocabulary list

Pizza – пицца

Chocolate – шоколад

Pesticide – пестициды

Hormone – гормоны

Creep – красться

Food – пища, еда

Diet – пища; определенный «стол»

Anxiety – беспокойство, тревога, забота

Junk food – нездоровая пища, изобилующая добавками и наполни-

телями

Fat – жир, жирный

Additive – добавка

Fertilizer – удобрение

Process – подвергать обработке

Processed – готовый к употреблению

Ban (smb from smth) – запрещать

Comprehension task

I. True or false?

1. All our food is healthy.

2. Junk food is very good for men.

3. Chemicals used on a modern farm pollute our food.

4. Fruits and nuts, vegetables and wheat are health food.

5. Food additives can add colaer, flavour, artificial sweetness.

6. Hormones help plants grow.

7. Fertilizers are used to kill insects and weeds.

8. Chemicals make agriculture safer and healthrer.

9. All food grown on a farm can be called organic.

II. Complete the question and give the answer.

1. What are two major … ?

2. Why has our food become … ?

3. Why are there so many … ?

4. Why is junk food … ?

5. What food do we call … ?

6. Why isn’t health food … ?

7. What substances help … ?

8. How do farmers grow … ?

9. Why do we say that organie agriculture … kinder … ?

10. How can people change … ?

III. Find in the text equivalents to the following words and phrases

Источник беспокойства; огромное количество химических веществ; то, что мы обычно едим; очень полные люди; нездоровая пища с большим количеством химических добавок; готовая к употреблению пища; ядохимикаты; пищевые продукты, выращенные без применения химических веществ; формировать политику поставок пищевых продуктов (в магазин).

IV. Use the above words to describe the food most people eat. Say what diet is good for man.

V. Here are some useful words from the – text. Can you remember the sentences you saw each word in? Make similar to the original sentences.

Junk food, additives, heath food, pollute, crop, grow, environment, soil, choose, substance.

VI. Find in the text the word or phrase which means:

1. Things we eat.

2. Sort of food usually eaten by a person or community.

3. Food of little or novalue.

4. Substances added in small amounts to food for special purposes.

5. Food which is good for men.

6. Chemical substances which kill insects and weeds.

7. Foods grown without chemicals.

8. Take part in an action against comething.

VII. Write an essay on the eating habits of teenagers.

Unit 6

Read the text and render it