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!