Academic-English-Diet-and-sustainability-key-to-feeding-the-world

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Academic-English-Diet-and-sustainability-key-to-feeding-the-world

Text 5a

Diet and sustainability key to feedingthe world:

A food security report

One of the greatest problems the world faces

is food security. Starvation,

malnutrition and associated health and

welfare problems can best be addressed

by a systematic policy of education and

research.

Grave concerns about food security have

surfaced for a number of reasons.

Firstly, there has been a population

explosion According to the Royal

Society, between 1930 and 2010 the

world's population grew from 2 billion

to 6.8 billion now, with a projected

peak of 9 billion by 2050 (Black, 2010).

A further major cause for concern is the

impact on food production of climate

change, brought about by global warming.

Population growth and climate change

will mean there is an increasing

shortage of water and of land for food

production, and therefore more

competition for these resources.

While threats to global food security are

numerous and affect both economically

developed and less-developed countries,

it is the people of the latter who are

likely to feel the most impact. Vast

numbers lack basic food requirements:

at least 1 billion people are

undernourished and 2 billion suffer

from micronutrient deficiency.

Conversely, 1.2 billion are overweight.

An environmental example of the impact of

food production mismanagement on

ecosystems, and the wider implications

of this, can he clearly seen in the case

of drastic declines in bird species. For

example, in Europe and North America

populations of "specialist" bird

species-those that are adapted to live

in specific environments-have fallen by

an estimated 30% over 40 years. This has

been attributed at least partially to

the impact of farming, especially when

this involves a single crop type being

grown over a large area.

In fact, a study by Stanford University

biologists (Sekercioglu, Daily &

Ehrlich, 2004) concluded that by 2100，10% of all bird species were likely to

disappear and another 15% could be on

the brink of extinction. This dramatic

loss is expected to have a negative

impact on forest ecosystems and

agriculture worldwide, and warned that

it might even encourage the spread of

human diseases. The latter point is

supported by reports of a dramatic fall

in vulture numbers in India, allowing an

upsurge in numbers of rats and feral

dogs, which spread diseases that affect

humans (see Swan et al., 2006; BirdLife

International, 2008)，The vulture

population crash is attributed mainly

to poisoning by high concentrations of

diclofenac, a drug used to treat farm

animals. The birds ingest the drug when

they feed on the animals’ carcasses.

The challenges involved in addressing the

problem of food security are complex.

Part of the solution is increasing the

potential of food yields, but the

approach must be sustainable. Producers

and consumers of food must play a major

role in all this and take responsibility

in terms of choosing how food is

"produced, used and consumed".

Reducing the amount of waste in the food

production system is one approach to

improving food security. However, in

future the "journey from arm to plate"

also needs to be organised more

systematically and globally. A

particular problem area here is the

importing into economically developed

countries of exotic fruit and

vegetables. This can have a negative

impact on food security in two ways.

Firstly, importing (and especially

air-freighting) fresh produce from

overseas locations can significantly

increase the carbon footprint of food

production, contributing to global

warming and its associated problems。Secondly,

switch to

if growers

developed

producing

in

fruit

less

and

economically countries

vegetables for export, this could

displace local staple crops, resulting

in worsening diets for what may be an

already malnourished population.

A further solution is to manage crop

production to boost yields of some crops

in countries with temperate climates.

However, climate change could also

cause shifts in seasonal patterns that

put crops

out of rhythm with the insects that

pollinate them, or could increase the

likelihood of extreme weather events

damaging the developing flowers that

are essential for the crop .There is a

strong likelihood that diets will

increasingly be dependent on animal

sources of protein, but farmers do not

necessarily adopt practices that lead

to the fulfilment of potential yield.

Helping them become more efficient

offers a further means of addressing the

food security issue.

An integrated，systemic approach to the

problems of food security has to be

developed. This includes encouraging

agri-food research, with the most

technologically advanced countries

directing their attention and research

focus towards dealing with the problem.

In addition, a global approach is needed

and specialist research initiatives

will need to help with integrating the

food-security research undertaken by

non-specialist institutions.

References

BirdLife International (2008; April 30).

Vulture crisis deepens. Retrieved

October 31, 2011, from

/news/news/2008/04八ulture

Beddington, J. (ed.) (2011).Foresight report: The future of food and farming.

Challenges and choices for global sustainability. London: Government Office for Science. Retrieved December 22, 2011，from /assets/bispartners/foresight/docs/food-and-farming/11-546-future-of-food-and-farming

-

Black, R. (2010, July 12). Global population

study launched by Royal Society. BBC

News. Retrieved December 21, 2011, from

/news/10578484

Sekercioglu, C. H., Daily, G. C.&Ehrlich, P

R. (2004). Ecosystem consequences of

bird declines. Proceedings of the

National Academy of Sciences.

101(52),18042-18047.

Swan, G., Naidoo, V, Cuthbert, R., Green, R.

E., Pain, D. J., Swarup, D.…&Wolter, K.

(2006). Removing the threat of

diclofenac to critically endangered

Asian vultures. PLoS Biology. 4(3),

e66.

Tiffin, R. (2011，January 24). Diet and sustainability key to feeding the world. [Press release]. Reading: University of Reading. Retrieved October 31,

2011, from /about/ne

wsandevents/releases/

Source: John Slaght, ISLC, University of

Reading, UK, based on the references

cited.

Focus task:

You are going to read a selection of texts

in order to produce a set of notes that

will help you complete the following

assignment:

The global population has increased from two

billion to seven billion in the past 80

years. In the next 40 years it is

predicted to rise to nine billion. What

are the challenges and what measures can

be most effective in feeding such a

rapidly expanding population?

Text 5a summarises the key issues relating

to food security that are covered in

greater detail in the three other texts

in the unit. These come from a review

paper by UK government scientists,

which maintains that good nutrition and

sustainability are essential in order

to ensure global food security.

Task 1 Surveying the text

It is important that students in higher

education make decisions about how to

make use of an academic text because of

the large amount of reading required on

some courses.

Study tip: Remember that Surveying features

of the text before going into detailed

reading can save time and provide

important insights into the content and

value of the text. Features to look for

include the title and any figures or

graphs.

1.1 Analyse the title of Text 5a by examining

it in sections. In the table below the

title is divided into six separate parts.

Complete the column with appropriate

deductions.

1.2 Now consider what you can deduce from the

photograph about the content of the text.

Discuss your ideas with another

student.

1.3 Look at the references at the end of the

text. What useful information do these

give?

Task 2 Search reading: Practising fast,

accurate reading

2.1 Read Text 5a quickly, but carefully, to

answer questions 1-12.

Scan the text quickly to find the

information you need to answer the

questions. Then read the information

carefully to answer accurately.

1. What solutions for achieving food

security are identified in the

introductory material?

2. What two major causes of starvation。。。global scale are identified?

3. These two factors have resulted in there

bcitig Iess

4. The population "explosion" is predicted

to level

5. Approximately how many people in total

arc faced with insufficient food and

nutrition?

a. 1 billion b. 2 billion c. 3

billion

6 . What year does the Stanford University

research relate to?

7. The dramatic decrease in vulture numbers

in India has

8. What is the negative impact of developed

countries importing exotic fruit?

9. What could be the negative impact of

poorer countries exporting exotic

fruit?

10. Where can the impact of climate change

be most effectively managed?

11. In future, animals may well be the main

12. Which form of research is recommended

for dealing with future food

insecurity?

Task 3 Identifying functions of the text:

Annotating the text

A useful approach to understanding the

organisation, purpose and value of a

text is to identify the functions

section by section, paragraph by

paragraph and if necessary, sentence by

sentence. One way of doing this is by

annotating the text in the margin.

Study tip: Clear annotation of the text can

provide useful reference for revision

or further study.

3.1 Look at the two examples of annotations

for lines 6-20 of Text 5 a. Then

highlight the parts of the text relevant

to the other two annotations.

Annotations

Grave concerns about food

Text extract(lines 6-20)

one reason

security have surfaced for

number of reasons. Firstly,

further info.

there has been a population

explosion. According to the

another reason+cause

implication

3.2 Go through the rest of the text making

brief annotations in the margin. Use a

pencil in case you decide to make

changes.

Identify which sections of the text have the

following functions (not all of these

functions might be used in this text):

● background information, e.g., giving

detail of the overall situation

● general problems/implications

● exemplification, i.e., examples

● explication, i.e., further information

to develop a point

● solution

● evaluation, e.g., of ideas

● viewpoints, i.e., writer's

recommendations or suggestions

● conclusion

3.3 Complete the table on the next page using

the annotations you made in Ex 3.2.

In the extra comments column you might write

comments such as relevant to the focus

task or check this source.

Task 4 Examining the writer's choice of

language for emphasis

The writer's choice of language can also

perform a particular function, for

example, to indicate the seriousness or

importance of the information or ideas

being described. The use of adjectives

or adverbs can play an important role in

putting the writer's message across

effectively. It can also help the reader

identify examples of the writer's

attitude or bias towards the topic.

4.1 Look at lines 1-29 and identify two more

examples of language that the writer

uses to convey the seriousness of the

topic.

grave concerns (line 6)

4.2 Look at lines 30一G3 and list further

examples of strong descriptive language

the writer uses to emphasise the

problems.

Brink of extinction (line 48)

4.3 Look at the words and phrases in the

table below and find words and phrases

in the text with a similar meaning.

Study tip: Taking an interest in features of

the text such as the writer's choice of

language will not only help your

understanding of the text, but will also

help to develop your reading research

skills in the long term.

Complete the table with the word or phrase,

its word class and the number of the line

where it appears. Note that the

definitions are listed in the same order

as the relevant words in the text.