Food in the UK

Form 8 Unit 3 Lesson 2 Reading

Food in the UK

In the UK today there are many different kinds of food in the supermarket. People buy peaches in December and strawberries in January. In the UK, this kind of food only grows in the summer, so in autumn, winter and spring, it comes from the other countries. Supermarkets also have fruit and vegetables that never grow in the UK, like oranges and melons. Let’s look at the typical example. The lamb comes from New Zealand, the tomatoes come from Italy, the beans from Kenya, the grapes from Egypt, the pears from Argentina and the bananas from India. All this food travels thousands of miles to your dinner plate. This dinner has a total 80,000 food miles. Lorries, ships and planes use a lot of fuel to carry food around the world. That’s a problem for the planet.

1. Which food doesn’t grow in the UK?
a. Strawberries
b. Peaches
c. Melons

2. The food mentioned in the text is a problem because:
a. It comes to the UK by three forms of transport.
b. We have to wait a long time for it.
c. Transporting is bad for the environment.

3. The article:
a. Criticizes people travelling by plane.
b. Describes the problems of buying our favourite food in winter.
c. Explains where the food we eat comes from.