The Environment: Food

The Environment: Food

Introduction

Jack: Hello my name’s Jack

Rowan: My name’s Rowan

Rich: and I’m Rich and welcome to this week’s Premier Skills English podcast.

Jack: In the Premier Skills English podcast, we talk about football and help you with your English. 

Rowan: Don’t forget you can find the transcript for all our podcasts on the Premier Skills English website.

Rich: In this week’s roleplay, the three of us are at a restaurant celebrating Jack’s promotion at work.

Jack: To celebrate I invite Rowan and Rich to a very nice restaurant near to where I live.

Rowan: This week we’re going to focus on food and the environment. You’ll hear the roleplay in three parts.

Rich: After each part, we will look at some words and phrases that will help you talk about the food that you eat, where your food comes from and how it affects the environment. 

Jack: Your task this week is to use some of this language to talk about what you like to eat and whether it is important to know where your food comes from.

Rowan: If you are listening to us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or any other podcast platform, you should also check out our website.

Rich: On the Premier Skills English website, you’ll find the transcript, examples and activities to help you understand the language and a task for you to complete with other listeners.

Jack: Before we do the roleplays let’s look back at last week’s football phrase.

Last week’s Football Phrase 

Rowan: OK, our football phrase. If you’ve not listened to the podcast before, every week we set our listeners a challenge. We explain a football phrase or word and you have to guess what it is.

Rich: When you know the answer, go to the podcast page on the Premier Skills English website and write the word or phrase in the comments. If you’re correct we’ll announce your name on next week’s podcast.

Jack: Thanks for all your answers and guesses last week. The first listener with the correct answer was HSN from Turkey - well done HSN! 

Rowan: Congratulations also go to: Hayato and Kazu from Japan, Mario, Vic and Marco Zapien from Mexico, Abdlrhmn from Egypt, MoBeckham from Turkey and Luibomyr from Ukraine. 

Rich:  Later on, at the end of the podcast, we’ll tell you the answer to last week’s football phrase but we’re going to give you one more chance to guess now. Are you ready?

Jack: Last week’s football phrase was ********* ****. This phrase is used to refer to the team an adult played for as a kid. I read in an article this week that the Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan had donated his bonus for winning the Premier League to his ********* **** in Germany so they could build a new football pitch.

Rich: Last week’s podcast was about speaking skills and the language of invitations. We asked you to invite listeners to a special party or event in your country.

Rowan: Many thanks to MoBeckham, Kazu and Vic for your invitations and I’m really sorry that I’m not going to be able to make it to these wonderful events.

Jack: If you haven’t heard this podcast and you want to learn some phrases connected to invitations and saying yes and no to invitations it’s called Speaking Skills: Invitations ... and you can find it on the Premier Skills English website or on Apple Podcasts.

Introduction to roleplay 1

Jack: As we said earlier, in this week’s roleplay we’re talking about food and the environment.

Rich: My favourite topic.

Rowan: The environment?

Rich: No. Food. We’re at a restaurant in this week’s roleplay, aren’t we?

Jack: Yes, we’re at a very nice restaurant - I might even describe it as posh. I’ve invited Rowan and Rich to this restaurant because I’ve been promoted at work, and I want to celebrate.

Rowan: You’re about to listen to the first part of the roleplay and while you listen, we want you to answer a question.

Rich: The question is:  Who doesn’t eat meat?

Roleplay 1

Rich: This place looks nice. I’m surprised they let me in with my Liverpool shirt on.

Rowan: Yes, very posh. A good place to celebrate. Congratulations on your promotion again, Jack.

Rich: Yes, congratulations. Well done. You’ll be headteacher soon!

Jack: Thanks, thanks very much … so I thought we’d come here because the food is excellent … I’ve been here a few times and ...

Rich: Yes, everyone I know raves about it, and it’s got great reviews online.

Jack: The meat here is delicious. It’s locally sourced - all the animals are reared on the estate nearby and they’re all grass-fed.

Rowan: But you remember that I’m a veggie, don’t you, Jack?

Jack: Of course! There’s loads of vegetarian stuff on the menu. I’m actually thinking of going for the falafel burger. This place has got its own allotment round the back so most of the produce is seasonal.

Rich: I didn’t know you were vegetarian, Jack?

Jack: I haven’t given up meat entirely, but I am cutting down the amount of meat I eat. I don’t need it every day or at every meal. I suppose I’m becoming more of a flexitarian.

Rich: Ah, you eat fish?

Jack: No, that’s a pescatarian - I’m vegetarian most of the time but like to have meat and fish occasionally.  

Rowan: I gave up meat years ago because I thought it was healthier. It’s better for the environment, too now.

Rich: I’ve thought about it, but it’s difficult to do lots of sport and be a vegan or vegetarian.

Jack: What about Hector Bellerin?

Rich: What’s Arsenal go to do with anything?

Rowan: Oh, yeah - the Arsenal player. He’s a vegan and that proves a plant-based diet doesn’t put athletes at any disadvantage at all. He’s one of the quickest players in the Premier League.

Jack: I’ve read that Sergio Aguero is a vegetarian as well. It must have been really difficult to give up Argentinian beef.

Rich: Yes, yes, definitely, actually, I probably shouldn’t be eating ... no never mind. I’m not going to miss out on some of the meat they’ve got on the menu here.

WAITER: Are you ready to order?

Rowan: Sorry, could you give us a couple more minutes?

Language Focus 1

Rowan: Before the roleplay, we asked you a question. The question was: Who doesn’t eat meat?

Rich: The answer is Rowan. I eat meat quite often.

Jack: I describe myself as a flexitarian who is someone that usually eats a diet without meat but will occasionally eat meat and fish.

Rowan: And I describe myself as a vegetarian who is someone that never eats meat.

Rich: So, a person who doesn’t eat meat can be described as a vegetarian and someone who eats meat sometimes can be described as a flexitarian.

Jack: We used another few words to describe people who follow certain diets. Rich thought that I might be a pescatarian - this is someone who eats fish but doesn’t eat other meats.

Rowan: You might also hear someone describing themselves as a vegan. A vegan doesn’t eat meat, dairy products or any other food that’s derived from or comes from animals. 

Rich: The biggest difference for most vegans is that they don’t eat dairy products, which are animal products such as butter, milk and cheese.

Jack: Rowan used the word veggie in the roleplay. This is an informal way of describing someone as vegetarian or something as vegetarian.

Rowan: We’ve been using vegetarian and vegan to describe people here - we are using them as nouns, but we often use them as adjectives, too. Listen to this part of the roleplay again:

Jack: Of course! There’s loads of vegetarian stuff on the menu. I’m actually thinking of going for the falafel burger. This place has got its own allotment round the back so most of the produce is seasonal.

Rich: I didn’t know you were vegetarian, Jack?

Rowan: You can use the noun and say I’m a vegetarian or use the adjective and say I’m vegetarian and of course you can use the adjective to speak about meals or dishes on a menu.

Jack: If you are vegetarian or vegan it can be very useful to ask a waiter about things on the menu by saying: Is this vegetarian? Or Is this vegan?

Rich: Let’s look at some more language connected to food and the environment. In the clip we just played, Jack said the food at the restaurant is seasonal.

Rowan: If something is seasonal it means it’s available only at a specific time of the year. Strawberries are a good example of a traditionally seasonal fruit - they are available mainly in early summer in the UK.

Jack: Here we were talking about fruit and vegetables, but we also spoke about the meat that the restaurant uses. Have a listen to this part of the roleplay again:

Rich: Yes, everyone I know raves about it, and it’s got great reviews online.

Jack: The meat here is delicious. It’s locally sourced - all the animals are reared nearby and they’re all grass-fed.

Rowan: The phrases I want to pick out from this clip are locally sourced and grass-fed.

Rich: If something is local it is near to where you live or near to the place you’re talking about. I lived in Sheffield as a child and my local football club was Sheffield United.

Jack: To source something is quite a formal way of saying to get something from a specific place so when we say something is locally sourced it means we have got it from a nearby place.

Rowan: Lots of people like to know about how an animal lives.

Jack: If we hear that animals were grass-fed it should mean that they lived in fields and ate grass. This kind of label helps us make healthier choices or better choices for the environment or for animal welfare.

Rich: But this is not always the case so it’s always useful to ask questions about where your meat has come from.

Rowan: Before we go back to our roleplay, I’d like to look at two phrasal verbs. Listen to this clip again. What are the two phrasal verbs that Jack uses?

Jack: I haven’t given up meat entirely, but I am cutting down the amount of meat I eat. I don’t need it every day or at every meal. I suppose I’m becoming more of a flexitarian.

Rich: The phrasal verbs are to give up and to cut down or cut down on.

Rowan: To give something up means to stop doing something. It’s probably a good idea to give up smoking if you smoke.

Jack: And to cut down on something means to do something less or to reduce the amount of something. I’m not giving meat up, but I am cutting down on the amount of meat I eat.

Introduction to roleplay 2

Rowan: You’re about to listen to the second part of the roleplay. We’re still at the restaurant and still deciding what to eat.

Rich: While you listen, we want you to answer a question.

Jack: The question is: Why should Rich not order any meat at the restaurant?

Roleplay 2

Rowan: Are you still thinking of going for the falafel burger, Jack?

Jack: I’m not sure. There are too many things to choose from. I might go for the creamy vegan mushroom risotto - I had that before and it was really good.

Rich: It does sound nice - maybe I should go for that, too.

Rowan: Why? I thought you wanted to try the lamb. They say it’s famous here and it doesn’t bother me - just because I’m not eating meat.

Rich: No, no, I know that, it’s just that I’m not supposed to be eating meat either.

Jack: What do you mean you’re not supposed to be eating meat?

Rich: It’s this thing with the kids and school. They’re learning about where our food comes from and responsibly sourced food and things like that.

Jack: That’s great - in our school, we’re teaching more every year about food sustainability - we’ve got a school garden and the kids learn how to cook their own organic food from scratch.

Rowan: I wish we’d done that at school. I think I only learned about where food comes from as an adult really - things like land use and food miles. I obviously knew that bananas weren’t grown here but now I always check things like strawberries because they can be from the other side of the world sometimes, too.

Jack: Yeah, I didn’t really ever think about land use until a few years ago. Lots more land is needed to produce meat compared to growing vegetables.

Rich: That’s because you don’t only need the land for the animals, but also to grow the crops to feed the animals. 

Jack: I’ve read that to produce one portion of beef uses 36 times the land than one portion of many common vegetables.

Rich: But you still have to be careful. I’ve read that some vegetables such as avocados and mushrooms have really large carbon footprints, too.

Rowan: When you look into it it’s really surprising to see how much deforestation is caused worldwide to allow us to eat meat - it’s scary really but great that kids are learning about this at school.

Jack: But if we haven’t just put you off why does that mean you can’t eat meat, Rich?

Rich: Well, it’s just that a few weeks ago we, as a family, decided to make this month meat-free month. I haven’t eaten any meat for nearly three weeks now.

Rowan: Ah! I see and now because you’re here you want to eat some of this famous lamb that you see on the menu.

Rich: Er ... well it’s supposed to be really good.

Jack: And you want us to be part of this evil plan of yours and not tell your children that you have broken the promise you made to be part of meat-free month.

Rich: Er … It’s just …

WAITER: Are you ready to order?

Rowan: Sorry, can you just give us one more minute.

Language Focus 2

Rowan: Before the roleplay, we asked you a question. The question was: Why should Rich not order any meat at the restaurant?

Jack: Well, the answer is that he and his family decided not to eat any meat for a month. 

Rowan: And now he’s thinking of breaking this promise he made to his family. What a horrible man!

Rich: I’m not such a bad person. Honestly! I think it’s time to look at some language from the roleplay.

Jack: Earlier we spoke about food that is locally sourced and the idea of sustainability. Rich used some similar language when speaking about what his children are doing at school. Listen to this part of the roleplay again.

Rich: It’s this thing with the kids and school. They’re learning about where our food comes from and responsibly sourced food and things like that.

Jack: That’s great - in our school, we’re teaching more every year about food sustainability - we’ve got a school garden and the kids learn how to cook their own organic food from scratch.

Rowan: We already know that food that is locally sourced comes from near to where you live but food should also be responsibly sourced.

Rich: If something is responsibly sourced it means that there is a minimal negative impact on the environment or on people.

Jack: This is very general but if something is responsibly sourced it means that a company has thought about the environmental and social factors when sourcing their products.

Rich: You may have heard the term sustainability - Jack spoke about food sustainability.

Rowan: When we talk about food sustainability, we’re talking about how food can continue to be grown for a long time without harming the environment.

Jack: This covers lots of different things such as how land is used, how far food travels as well as health, social and economic factors.

Rowan: A word I often use about food is organic. Jack spoke about kids growing their own organic food.

Jack: When we are speaking about organic food, we are usually talking about food that hasn’t been produced by using artificial chemicals.

Rich: Jack spoke about kids cooking their own organic food from scratch. This is a nice idiom from scratch it means to do something from the very beginning.

Rowan: I used the terms food miles and land use when speaking about where our food comes from.

Jack: A food mile is a measurement of the distance food needs to be transported from where it is grown or produced to the person who finally eats it.

Rich: We might want to reduce food miles by eating locally sourced food as this may have less of a damaging impact on the environment.

Rowan: Another important term that we often see about how food is grown and its impact on the environment is land use. Land use is basically how land which is farmed is used.

Jack: Land use covers lots of different ideas such as how farms and landowners protect the environment and its biodiversity, how they protect the soil for future generations and how water is used on the land.

Rich: We’ve used quite a lot of language connected to food and the environment and we have more examples and activities connected to this topic on the Premier Skills English website.

Introduction to roleplay 3

Rowan: You’re about to listen to the final part of the roleplay. We’re finally ready to order.

Rich: While you listen, we want you to answer a question.

Jack: The question is: What does Rich order?

Roleplay 3

Rowan: Well, I think this is a first for me. Eating out with you two and all three of us going for veggie options.

Rich: But it does say here that all the meat is locally sourced and grass-fed … it just looks so appetising ...

WAITER: Are you ready to order?

Rowan: Yes, we are, sorry. I’ll have the falafel burger with salad and fries and anything you can add to make it extra spicy would be great.

Jack: And I’m going to go for the creamy vegan mushroom risotto, please … Rich?

Rich: I’m ready … yes could I have the … rump of lamb with potatoes, asparagus and roasted carrots, please.

Jack: Rich! 

Rowan: Your children will never forgive you!

Rich: Come on! I’m not going to miss out on this! Anyway, I’d describe this month’s diet more as flexitarian than vegetarian but no, never say a word to anyone!

Language Focus 3

Rowan: Before the roleplay, we asked you a question. The question was: What does Rich order?

Jack: And the answer is lamb. He ordered some meat despite telling his family he wouldn’t eat any for a month.

Rich: It was hard but to be honest I blame Jack for taking us to a restaurant that is famous for its meat.

Rowan: Let’s quickly move on to this week’s task and how we want you to use the vocabulary we’ve introduced in this podcast.

TASK

Jack: In this week’s task, we want you to think about what you eat and where it comes from and use some of the language we have introduced in this podcast.

Rich: Remember that the point of the task is to practise using new language so try to use the words and phrases we introduced that were new for you.

Rowan: OK, we’re going to give you five questions and you can answer as many of them as you want in the comments section.

Jack: Question one: Is it a good idea to cut down on the amount of meat you eat or give meat up altogether?

Rich: Question two: Is it easy to buy locally sourced meat or seasonal fruit and vegetables where you live? Are these more expensive or cheaper?

Rowan: Question three: How good are you at cooking from scratch?

Jack: Question four: Do you like to try foreign food? How can we reduce the number of food miles on our plates?

Rich: Question 5: Is there a certain type of food that you couldn’t live without? What food could you not miss out on?

Rowan: Write all your replies in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website.

Football Phrase

Rich: It’s time for this week’s football phrase. Have you got one Rowan?

Rowan: I have. This week’s football phrase is to *** *** *** ****. This phrase basically means to do something for the first time in a competition. It’s usually used when a player or team is on zero goals or points and they get their first goal, point or win in a competition. Sometimes it takes time for a player or team to adapt to the Premier League and they might not *** *** *** **** straight away.

Jack: That’s quite difficult this week - let’s see who can get it right.

Rich: If you are still wondering what the answer was to last week’s football phrase it was childhood club.

Rowan: If you have a football phrase that you would like us to use in the podcast, just get in touch and let us know.

Jack: Right, that’s all we have time for this week! Don’t forget to write your answers to our questions and make a guess at our football phrase in the comments below. If you get it right, we’ll announce your name on next week’s podcast. 

Rich: If you have a question for us about football or English you can email us at premierskills@britishcouncil.org

Rowan: or you can leave your questions and comments on the website in the comments section or on our Facebook page.

Jack: or you could give us a rating and a fantastic review on Apple Podcasts.

Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football!