IG听力2020 part2 音频

[00:05.78] Hi I’m Joanna Brown.

[00:07.64] I’ve written about food and issues surrounding its production and consumption for 25 years.

[00:13.90] I regularly contribute to various radio and television programmes

[00:18.86] on which I’ve campaigned for greater awareness of the food industry.

[00:23.29] Almost 50 per cent of the fruit and vegetables

[00:27.09] which farmers grow don’t make it to the shelves of our supermarkets.

[00:31.51] Whether the fruit or vegetable has a lump,

[00:34.43] a slightly irregular shape,

[00:36.82] or there is a variation in colour or texture,

[00:40.08] it is rejected.

[00:41.42] Imperfect fruit and vegetables do not conform to our large retailers’ requirements for perfect-looking produce.

[00:50.45] Behind the scenes of large-scale, intensive horticulture,

[00:55.76] a number of techniques are used to deliver the type of produce supermarkets favour.

[01:01.07] These include using chemicals to control growth

[01:05.58] and pesticides that get rid of most of the natural colour variation in the crop.

[01:10.90] Modern seed varieties are selected for their ability to produce visually-pleasing

[01:17.01] and identical specimens that will have a long shelf life in the store,

[01:22.32] even if their flavour is poor.

[01:24.98] About three years ago, a number of celebrity chefs highlighted this appalling food waste,

[01:31.79] saying it was a scandal.

[01:34.19] A year later the chairman of the government’s Environment,

[01:38.44] Food and Rural Affairs Committee,

[01:40.82] criticised supermarkets for not selling enough ‘wonky’, or mis-shaped, vegetables and fruit.

[01:48.27] ‘Wonky’ has now become the term used to describe the four out of every 10 vegetables

[01:54.64] and fruit that are considered substandard by retailers

[01:58.89] because they do not fit their fussy requirements.

[02:02.34] “It’s ridiculous that perfectly good vegetables are wasted

[02:06.86] simply because they are a funny shape.

[02:09.95] Knobbly carrots and parsnips do not cook or taste any different,

[02:15.27] or more importantly, any worse,” remarked the chairman.

[02:20.05] Supermarkets have responded to his criticism and are now offering a few limited lines of fruit and vegetables,

[02:28.02] labelled ‘imperfect picks’ or ‘perfectly imperfect’

[02:33.32] or even ‘beautiful on the inside’, for a much lower price

[02:38.11] compared to the immaculately-groomed norm that dominates their fresh produce shelves.

[02:43.87] There are a number of independent food producers

[02:48.12] who have started schemes to sell ‘wonky’ organic and seasonal fruit and vegetables

[02:53.69] via online shopping and local distribution.

[02:57.42] Some are trialling and testing seeds to find the most flavoursome varieties.

[03:03.79] These entrepreneurs are, however, up against the giants who produce food on an industrial scale.

[03:11.23] And let’s face it, a box of organically-produced fruit and vegetables is not cheap.

[03:17.60] It’s also crazy that food banks, created to help people in need,

[03:23.09] have to hand out tinned and packaged food when so much fresh produce is being wasted.

[03:29.82] Environmentally, it is destructive as well,

[03:33.01] because significant energy and resources are poured into growing fruit and vegetables,

[03:38.59] only for them to rot in landfill where they give off climate-warming gases.

[03:44.17] These rejected specimens, on account of their colour or shape,

[03:49.48] may not be the prettiest to look at, but beauty,

[03:52.93] as they say, is in the eye of the beholder.

[03:56.39] That is why I have great trouble with the word ‘wonky’

[04:00.10] because it implies that the identical fruit that supermarkets prefer represents the pick of the crop,

[04:07.28] while ‘wonky’ is second best.

[04:10.20] We’ve been encouraged to expect our fruit and vegetables to look the same

[04:15.35] without really taking into consideration what growers do to achieve these beautiful-looking results.

[04:22.41] Anyone who grows their own knows that they hardly ever look like supermarket specimens

[04:29.32] but, as allotment holders and gardeners frequently testify, they invariably taste better.

[04:36.23] It’s time for us to rethink our idea of what naturally-grown produce really looks like.

[04:43.40] If we want to stop waste, as well as eat fruit and vegetables that have been cultivated for flavour,

[04:49.97] not looks, ‘wonky’ must become the new accepted normal.