English Learning Content: Food Security under Climate Change
Dialogue
Alice: Bob, have you seen the price of avocados lately? It’s like they’re gold!
Bob: Alice, tell me about it! I saw a documentary last night, and now I’m convinced we’ll be trading kale for diamonds in a few decades.
Alice: Kale for diamonds? You’re being dramatic! But seriously, with all these weird weather patterns, I’m starting to worry about our future Sunday brunches.
Bob: Exactly! Imagine a world where a fresh tomato is a rare delicacy, only found in exclusive, climate-controlled bunkers. My pasta primavera dreams would be shattered!
Alice: Or where your ‘farm-to-table’ meal involves a tiny hydroponic basil plant you grew yourself under a desk lamp. Talk about shrinking your carbon footprint!
Bob: My carbon footprint would be the least of my worries! I’d be more concerned about my ‘food print’ – how much actual food I can get my hands on. They say insects are the protein of the future, you know.
Alice: Oh, please don’t even joke about cricket smoothies. I draw the line at anything with more than four legs on my plate, unless it’s a very tiny, very dead shrimp.
Bob: But think about it, Alice! Droughts are wiping out crops, floods are ruining harvests… what if chocolate becomes extinct? That’s a true apocalypse for me.
Alice: Okay, now you’ve got my attention. No chocolate? That’s a future I refuse to accept. We need to start stockpiling cacao beans immediately!
Bob: Right? We’ll be like doomsday preppers, but for gourmet food. My bunker will have artisanal cheeses and organic coffee beans. Yours?
Alice: Mine will be dedicated entirely to pasta, different sauces, and a lifetime supply of fresh bread. Oh, and a fridge just for desserts. No room for insects, thank you very much.
Bob: Sounds like a plan! We should probably learn to grow our own super-resilient, climate-proof potatoes in the meantime. Just in case.
Alice: Good idea. I’ll take the potatoes, you can try cultivating those ‘future protein’ insects. We can call it our ‘Ark of Appetite’ project.
Bob: Deal! But if my insects start escaping, you’re responsible for the extermination. I’m only good for the theoretical planning and consumption.
Alice: It’s a deal, Bob. Now, about those avocado prices… maybe we should just grow an avocado tree in your backyard. Problem solved, right?
Current Situation
Food security means that all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Climate change poses a significant threat to global food security.
Rising global temperatures lead to more frequent and intense extreme weather events like droughts, floods, and heatwaves, which directly impact agricultural productivity. These events can destroy crops, reduce yields, and disrupt supply chains. Additionally, changes in rainfall patterns, increased pest and disease outbreaks, and soil degradation further jeopardize the ability to produce enough food.
The consequences include higher food prices, increased hunger, malnutrition, and potential social unrest or forced migration. To combat this, efforts are focused on developing climate-resilient crops, adopting sustainable farming practices, reducing food waste, and improving early warning systems for farmers.
Key Phrases
- Tell me about it!: An informal expression used to show that you understand and agree with what someone is saying, often because you have had a similar experience.
- Example: “This traffic is terrible today.” “Oh, tell me about it! I’ve been stuck here for an hour.”
- Being dramatic: Overreacting or exaggerating a situation to make it seem more serious than it is.
- Example: “He’s just being dramatic; a tiny scratch isn’t going to kill him.”
- Weird weather patterns: Unusual or unpredictable changes in typical weather conditions.
- Example: Due to weird weather patterns, we’ve had snow in July this year.
- Rare delicacy: A food item that is considered very special, valuable, and hard to find or obtain.
- Example: In some cultures, truffles are considered a rare delicacy.
- Shrinking your carbon footprint: Reducing the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that an individual or organization produces.
- Example: Taking public transport is a great way of shrinking your carbon footprint.
- Least of my worries: Something that is not as important or urgent as other concerns you have.
- Example: With my exams next week, what to wear to the party is the least of my worries.
- Draw the line at (something): To set a limit and refuse to go beyond it.
- Example: I’ll help you move, but I draw the line at cleaning your old apartment.
- Wiping out crops: Completely destroying agricultural produce.
- Example: The severe drought is wiping out crops across the region.
- Got my attention: Succeeded in making someone interested or concerned about something.
- Example: The sudden loud noise really got my attention.
- Stockpiling: Accumulating a large supply of something for future use.
- Example: Many people started stockpiling toilet paper at the beginning of the pandemic.
- Doomsday preppers: People who actively prepare for a major catastrophe or the end of the world.
- Example: Some doomsday preppers build bunkers stocked with years of supplies.
- Lifetime supply: Enough of something to last for one’s entire life.
- Example: She won a competition and received a lifetime supply of her favorite coffee.
- Super-resilient: Extremely tough and able to recover quickly from difficult conditions.
- Example: This new material is super-resilient and can withstand extreme temperatures.
- Ark of Appetite: A creative, informal term used in the dialogue to refer to their hypothetical project for food preservation/storage.
- Example: Their “Ark of Appetite” project involved building a giant pantry for emergency food supplies.
Grammar Points
1. Conditional Sentences (Type 1 and Type 2)
Conditional sentences discuss hypothetical situations and their possible outcomes. They often use ‘if’.
- Type 1 Conditional (Real/Likely Conditions): Used for situations that are real or very likely to happen in the present or future.
- Structure: If + Present Simple, Will + Base Verb
- Example from dialogue: “But if my insects start escaping, you’re responsible for the extermination.” (Here, ‘you’re responsible’ functions as the consequence, using Present Simple for a general truth or immediate consequence).
- Another example: “What if chocolate becomes extinct? That’s a true apocalypse for me.”
- Type 2 Conditional (Unreal/Hypothetical Conditions): Used for situations that are unreal, unlikely, or impossible in the present or future.
- Structure: If + Past Simple, Would + Base Verb
- Example from dialogue (implied): “If a fresh tomato were a rare delicacy, my pasta primavera dreams would be shattered!” (The dialogue says “Imagine a world where a fresh tomato is a rare delicacy…” which describes an imagined situation. If we rephrase it as a Type 2 conditional, ‘were’ is more grammatically correct for hypothetical present situations).
- Another example: “If I had a lot of money, I would travel the world.”
2. Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs are combinations of a verb and a preposition or adverb (or both) that create a new meaning.
- Wipe out: To completely destroy or eliminate something.
- Example: “Droughts are wiping out crops.”
- Get your hands on (something): To obtain something, often with some effort.
- Example: “I’d be more concerned about how much actual food I can get my hands on.”
Practice Exercises
Exercise 1: Fill in the Blanks (Key Phrases)
Complete the sentences using the most appropriate key phrase from the list above.
- The hurricane is ______ crops all along the coast.
- I need to ______ some good quality paint for this project.
- She’s ______ over a small mistake; it’s not the end of the world.
- “I’m so tired today.” “Oh, ______! I barely slept last night either.”
- I’m worried about my career, so dating is the ______ right now.
Exercise 2: Rewrite Sentences (Conditional Sentences)
Rewrite the following sentences using a suitable conditional structure (Type 1 or Type 2).
- It’s possible it will rain tomorrow. If it does, we will cancel the picnic.
- He doesn’t have a lot of money, so he can’t buy that expensive car.
Answers
Exercise 1: Fill in the Blanks
- wiping out
- get my hands on
- being dramatic
- tell me about it
- least of my worries
Exercise 2: Rewrite Sentences
- If it rains tomorrow, we will cancel the picnic.
- If he had a lot of money, he could buy that expensive car.
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