Huge food losses in the world

1Each year,the world wastes about one-sixth of the food available to consumers.It is estimated that the world has lost about 931 million metric tons of food so far.That's about an average of 121 kilograms for each man,woman and child on Earth.

2What isn't eaten also wastes all of the resources used to make that food.Those resources include the water,energy,money,human labor and more.Wasted food“does not feed people,but it does feed climate change”,said Otto,who works for the UN Environment Program(UNEP),during a news conference.Some 690 million people go hungry each year.More than 3 billion people can't afford a healthy diet.Meanwhile,the activities that had produced all of the lost and wasted food led to 8 to 10 percent of all global greenhouse-gas emissions.Reducing food waste could ease hunger and possibly lower that pollution.That's the conclusion of the Food Waste Index Report 2021,a report issued on March 4.

3The report's authors collected data on food-waste from 54 countries.Most food that went uneaten—61 percent—was thrown out by home cooks and diners.Food services,such as restaurants,accounted for 26 percent more of the “lost” food.Groceries and other stores were responsible for 13 percent of the wasted food.Going in,Otto says,“We thought waste was mainly a problem in rich countries.” In fact,the new report finds,food waste is a big problem in nations rich and poor.

4While the report is the best study of the issue to date,several data gaps remain.The countries surveyed are home to just 75 percent of the world's population.What happens in other places remains unknown.And only 23 countries provided waste estimates for food losses by restaurants or retail stores.The researchers tried to account for such gaps.To do this,they made estimates based on what they learned in parts of the world that do tally such data.

5Otto recommends that countries begin making more efficient use of food a part of their climate strategies and their COVID-19 recovery plans.“Food waste has been largely overlooked in national climate strategies,” Otto said.“We know what to do.And we can take action quickly.”

Reading Check

I.Decide if the following statements are true（T） or false（F）.

（ ）1.About one-fifth of the food available to the consumers is wasted every year.

（ ）2.Food waste often goes with other kinds of waste.

（ ）3.About 3 billion people suffer from starvation every year.

（ ）4.Activities producing and wasting food can quicken global greenhouse-gas emissions.

（ ）5.According to the Food Waste Index Report 2021,the majority of food is wasted.

（ ）6.Restaurants waste about twice the food as groceries and other stores according to Para.3.

（ ）7.Food waste happens only in rich countries.

（ ）8.The Food Waste Index Report 2021 collects data from all the countries worldwide.

（ ）9.The researchers of the Food Waste Index Report 2021 hope to get reliable data of food losses.

（ ）10.Otto suggests making use of food more efficiently to reduce food losses.

Ⅱ.Discussion

As a student,do you also waste food?What should you do to reduce and avoid food losses?

Language Study

Memorize some text-centered chunks

an average of平均为

go hungry挨饿

more than多于

afford a healthy diet负担得起健康的饮食

lead to导致

reduce food waste减少食物浪费

ease hunger缓解饥饿

lower pollution降低污染

food services食品服务部门

account for占；解释

be responsible for作为原因；成为起因；对……负责

in fact实际上

make more efficient use of更高效地利用……

take action采取行动