Introduction

With population growth and climate change, we might have to radically change our diets in the future. There are all sorts of developments going on to help feed us in the future, from growing artificial meat to developing insect-based foods. In 6 Minute English?we discuss what we might be tucking into in the future and serve up some useful vocabulary.?

This week's question

In which continent did tomatoes originate? Is it…?

A: South America

B: Africa

C: Asia

Listen to the programme to find out the answer.

Transcript

Note: This is not a word for word transcript??

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

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’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

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 longer to get an ide-a 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 it 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 longer to get an ide-a 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 today’s 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!

Vocabulary

a futurologist

a person who studies and predicts how we will live in the future

a trend

a way to refer to something that is popular now or that is becoming popular

to latch onto

become very interested in

a hunch

a feeling you have based on your knowledge and experience that something might be true even though you don’t have any real evidence

ingesting

taking into your body, i.e. eating and drinking

stringent

strict, strong

雙語(yǔ)版Transcript

Hello. This is6 Minute English. I'm Neil.

大家好。這里是六分鐘英語(yǔ)，我是尼爾。

And I'm Sam.

我是薩姆。

Sam, have youconsidered the future of food much?

薩姆，你有考慮過未來的食物嗎？

Well I think inthe future I might have a sandwich – in about 30 minutes in the future.

好吧，我覺得未來我可能會(huì)吃一個(gè)三明治——在30分鐘后的未來。

Not quite whatI meant!

不完全是我想表達(dá)的意思！

With thepopulation of the world increasing along with the negative effects of climatechange and other global issues, we might have to radically change our diets inthe future.

隨著世界人口的增長(zhǎng)以及氣候變化和其他全球性問題的負(fù)面影響，我們可能不得不在未來徹底改變我們的飲食。

Ah, yes I haveheard about this – there are all sorts of developments from growing?artificialmeat to developing insect-based foods.

啊，是的，我聽說過——從生產(chǎn)人造肉到開發(fā)以昆蟲為原料的食品，有各種各樣的發(fā)展。

Mmm, tasty.

嗯，美味。

Well we'll looka little more at this topic shortly, but we start, as ever, with a question andit's a food-based question.

好的，我們很快將會(huì)對(duì)這個(gè)話題有更多的了解，但和往常一樣，我們從一個(gè)問題開始，那是一個(gè)基于食物的問題。

In whichcontinent did tomatoes originate?

西紅柿起源于哪個(gè)洲？

Is it… A: SouthAmerica, B: Africa or C: Asia?

是A：南美洲，B：非洲，還是C：亞洲？

What do youthink, Sam?

你覺得呢，薩姆？

No idea.

不知道。

I'm going tosay Africa, but that's just a guess.

我會(huì)說是非洲，但那只是猜測(cè)。

OK. Well I willreveal the answer later in the programme.

好的。稍后在節(jié)目里我將揭曉答案。

On a recentedition of BBC Radio 4's The Food Programme there was an interview with DrMorgaine Gaye.

在BBC廣播4頻道最近一期的《美食》節(jié)目中，有一段對(duì)摩根·蓋伊博士的采訪。

She is afuturologist.

她是一位未來學(xué)家。

A futurologistis someone who studies and predicts the way we will be living in the future.

未來學(xué)家是研究和預(yù)測(cè)我們未來生活方式的人。

Her particulararea of expertise is the subject of food.

她的專長(zhǎng)領(lǐng)域是食物。

What two thingsdoes she say she thinks about?

她說她要考慮哪兩件事？

As a foodfuturologist, I think about not just what we're going to be eating in thefuture but why.

作為一名食物未來學(xué)家，我考慮的不僅是我們將來要吃什么，還有為什么要吃。

Why that thing,why that trend, why will people suddenly latch onto that food, that way ofeating that food at that particular time?

為什么要吃那個(gè)東西，為什么有那種趨勢(shì)，為什么人們會(huì)突然對(duì)那種食物，對(duì)在特定時(shí)間吃那種食物的方式產(chǎn)生濃厚興趣？

And when I workfor large companies, that's what they want to know.

當(dāng)我在大公司工作的時(shí)候，這是他們想知道的。

There is anelement of a hunch.

就有一種預(yù)感。

And thenproving or disproving that hunch.

然后要證明或反駁這種預(yù)感。

So, what twothings does she think about?

所以她要考慮哪兩件事？

She says thatas a food futurologist she thinks about what we will be eating in the futureand also why we will be eating that food.

她說作為一名食物未來學(xué)家，她要考慮的是我們將來吃什么，以及為什么我們會(huì)吃那種食物。

Yes, inparticular she looks at why there are particular trends.

是的，她專門研究為什么會(huì)有特定的趨勢(shì)。

A trend is whatis popular now or what is becoming popular.

趨勢(shì)就是現(xiàn)在流行或者將要流行的東西。

For example, atthe moment there is a trend for eating less red meat.

例如，目前有一種少吃紅肉的趨勢(shì)。

She also looksat why people latch onto particular trends.

她同樣研究人們?yōu)槭裁磳?duì)特定的趨勢(shì)產(chǎn)生濃厚興趣。

To latch ontohere means to be very interested in something.

"Tolatch onto"在這里的意思是對(duì)某事物非常感興趣。

So if you latchonto a particular food trend, you start to follow that trend, you might starteating that particular diet.

所以如果你對(duì)一種特定的飲食趨勢(shì)產(chǎn)生濃厚興趣，你就會(huì)開始追隨這個(gè)趨勢(shì)，你可能會(huì)開始那種特定的飲食。

Informationabout future trends is very important for companies in the food business.

對(duì)食品行業(yè)的公司來說，關(guān)于未來食物趨勢(shì)的信息非常重要。

How does sheactually predict these trends?

她事實(shí)上是如何預(yù)測(cè)這些趨勢(shì)的呢？

She says shestarts with a hunch.

她說她一開始就有預(yù)感。

A hunch is afeeling you get that something is true.

預(yù)感是你覺得某事是真的的一種感覺。

You don't haveany real evidence, but your experience and knowledge makes you think you mightbe right.

你沒有任何真實(shí)證據(jù)，但是你的經(jīng)驗(yàn)和知識(shí)讓你覺得你可能是對(duì)的。

Let's listenagain.

讓我們?cè)俾犚槐椤?/p>

As a foodfuturologist, I think about not just what we're going to be eating in thefuture but why.

作為一名食物未來學(xué)家，我考慮的不僅是我們將來要吃什么，還有為什么要吃。

Why that thing,why that trend, why will people suddenly latch onto that food, that way ofeating that food at that particular time?

為什么要吃那個(gè)東西，為什么有那種趨勢(shì)，為什么人們會(huì)突然對(duì)那種食物，對(duì)在特定時(shí)間吃那種食物的方式產(chǎn)生濃厚興趣？

And when I workfor large companies, that's what they want to know.

當(dāng)我在大公司工作的時(shí)候，這是他們想知道的。

There is anelement of a hunch.

就有一種預(yù)感。

And thenproving or disproving that hunch.

然后要證明或反駁這種預(yù)感。

Dr Gaye goes onto talk about how on the subject of food, there are restrictions.

蓋伊博士接著談到了在食物的問題上如何有一些限制。

Why is that?

這是為什么呢？

Food businessof course has different restrictions around it because it's about safety, we'reingesting that.

食品行業(yè)當(dāng)然有不同的限制，因?yàn)樗P(guān)乎安全，我們要攝取食物。

The supplychain and the labelling laws are very stringent especially in thiscountry,?so it takes a lot long to get an idea from just a concept that'sdiscussed around a table to an actual production facility, labelled, branded,tested, marketed and put on the shelves.

供應(yīng)鏈和標(biāo)簽法律非常嚴(yán)格，尤其是在這個(gè)國(guó)家，所以需要花費(fèi)很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間才能從一個(gè)在桌子上討論的概念到實(shí)際生產(chǎn)設(shè)施，貼上標(biāo)簽，品牌化，測(cè)試，營(yíng)銷和上架。

So, whyrestrictions?

所以為什么有限制？

Well, it'sabout safety.

好吧，它關(guān)乎安全。

Because we areingesting food, which is a way of saying we are putting it into our bodies, ithas to be safe.

因?yàn)槲覀冊(cè)跀z取食物，也就是說我們?cè)诎咽澄镅蔬M(jìn)肚子里，所以食物必須是安全的。

It can be along process of developing a new food and getting it into the shops because ofthe need to be safe and meet the laws of different countries.

開發(fā)一種新食物并讓它在商店上架可能是一個(gè)漫長(zhǎng)的過程，因?yàn)樗枰前踩牟⒎喜煌瑖?guó)家的法律。

In the UK shementions that the food safety laws are very stringent.

她提到在英國(guó)食品安全法非常嚴(yán)格。

This means thatthe laws are very tough, very strict.

這指的是法律非常嚴(yán)格。

Let'shear Dr Gaye again.

讓我們?cè)俾犅犐w伊博士所說的。

Food businessof course has different restrictions around it because it's about safety, we'reingesting that.

食品行業(yè)當(dāng)然有不同的限制，因?yàn)樗P(guān)乎安全，我們要攝取食物。

The supplychain and the labelling laws are very stringent especially in thiscountry,?so it takes a lot long to get an idea from just a concept that'sdiscussed around a table to an actual production facility, labelled, branded,tested, marketed and put on the shelves.

供應(yīng)鏈和標(biāo)簽法律非常嚴(yán)格，尤其是在這個(gè)國(guó)家，所以需要花費(fèi)很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間才能從一個(gè)在桌子上討論的概念到實(shí)際生產(chǎn)設(shè)施，貼上標(biāo)簽，品牌化，測(cè)試，營(yíng)銷和上架。

Right, wellbefore we review our vocabulary, let's get the answer to the question.

好的，在我們復(fù)習(xí)詞匯之前，讓我們揭曉問題的答案。

In whichcontinent did tomatoes originate?

西紅柿起源于哪個(gè)洲？

Is it… A: SouthAmerica, B: Africa, C: Asia?

是A：南美洲，B：非洲，C：亞洲？

Sam, what didyou say?

薩姆，你說是什么？

I made a guessat Africa.

我猜是在非洲。

Well, I'mafraid that's not right.

好吧，恐怕那不對(duì)。

Congratulationsthough to everyone who said South America.

不過，還是要恭喜所有選擇南美洲的人。

Right, let'srecap today's words and expressions.

好的，讓我們來回顧一下今天的單詞和短語(yǔ)。

OK, well westarted with the word futurologist.

好的，我們從"未來學(xué)家"這個(gè)單詞開始。

This is a nounto describe someone who studies and predicts the way we will be living in thefuture.

這是一個(gè)名詞，用來描述研究和預(yù)測(cè)我們未來生活方式的人。

Then we hadtrend.

然后我們學(xué)了"趨勢(shì)"。

This word candescribe what is popular now and the way in which what is popular is changing.

這個(gè)詞可以描述現(xiàn)在流行的東西，以及流行的東西所改變的方式。

For example nowwe are seeing a trend for eating less red meat in some parts of the world.

例如，現(xiàn)在我們?cè)谑澜绲囊恍┑胤娇吹揭环N趨勢(shì)——少吃紅肉。

If you latchonto something, you become interested in it and associate yourself with it – weheard that people very quickly latch onto food trends.

如果你對(duì)事物產(chǎn)生濃厚興趣，你就會(huì)對(duì)它感興趣，并將自己與之聯(lián)系起來——我們聽說人們很快就會(huì)對(duì)食物的趨勢(shì)產(chǎn)生濃厚興趣。

Then there washunch.

然后是"預(yù)感"。

A hunch is afeeling about something you think might be true even though you don't have realevidence for it.

預(yù)感是你認(rèn)為某事可能是真的的一種感覺，即使你沒有真正的證據(jù)。

Ingestingsomething means taking it into your body, so eating or drinking it.

攝取某種東西指的是把它咽進(jìn)肚子里，所以是吃或者喝。

And finally astringent rule is a very strict rule, a tough rule or law which in connectionto food is designed to make sure it is safe and of a suitable quality.

最后嚴(yán)格的規(guī)定是非常嚴(yán)格的規(guī)定，與食品相關(guān)的嚴(yán)格規(guī)定或法律旨在確保食物是安全的，且質(zhì)量適合。

OK, thank you,Sam.

好的，謝謝你，薩姆。

That's all from6 Minute English.

以上就是今天六分鐘英語(yǔ)的全部?jī)?nèi)容。

Goodbye!

再見！

Bye-bye!