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6 Minute English

The future of food

09 Apr 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.031 - 3.676 Pippa

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.

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8.418 - 33.646 Unknown

Nyt starttaa kiekukilpailu. Ootko kiekumisen kingi vai keltanokkatipu? Jaa video sun komeimmasta kiekaisusta hashtagillä kiekukilpailu ja oot mukana kisassa. Parhaat kukkailijat palkitaan sadan euron lahjakorteilla ja kaikista mahtavin kiekaisia pukaa itselleen unelmien lomamatkan Lappiin. Ai että! Kilpailuaika 26. huhtikuuta asti. Säännöt ja lisätiedot osoitteessa kieku-kananmunat.fi. Mitä sä vielä ootat?

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36.278 - 63.042 Unknown

Huhu, äiti tulis käymään. Äiti, mä koodaan. Katoppa, DNAlta tuli sulle postia. Siis kananmunia. Eiku mitä nää on? Ne siis näyttää mulle närhemunat. Niin, voi kuulta pieni kun DNAn uusiin liittymiin kuuluu turvallinen nettiselaus. Se estää ihmisiä menemästä sun huijaussivustoille. Kirottua DNA. DNA huoleton on uuden ajan liittymä turvallisella nettiselauksella.

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68.324 - 86.465 Unknown

Want to practice your reading skills? Try The Reading Room, our new series of magazine-style articles. What's best? A morning shower or an evening shower? What can magic teach us about the brain? Making friends as you get older? These are all topics you'll discover in the series.

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86.515 - 105.196 Unknown

Each article comes with highlighted vocabulary, comprehension questions and an audio download. Learn about the world and improve your reading skills

107.491 - 129.952 Neil

Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil. And I'm Pippa. Many of us don't think twice about where the food in our kitchen comes from. One trip to the supermarket and we can buy anything we want, whether that's fruit grown in South America, tomatoes from Spain or rice flown in from Asia. Do you know where the food you buy comes from, Neil?

130.053 - 146.118 Pippa

I try to pay attention and buy stuff that's locally produced, but actually sometimes I don't really look. How about you? I actually have a calendar on my kitchen wall which tells me which fruits and vegetables are grown at what times of year.

Chapter 2: What are the implications of food security on national security?

146.202 - 175.733 Pippa

The reality is that the supply of fresh food to the UK is fragile. The UK imports around 40% of its food, and this supply chain can easily be disrupted by wars, shortages and increasingly by climate change. In fact, the UK government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs recently reported on the importance of food security, the term for having a reliable enough supply of affordable, healthy food to feed everyone.

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175.902 - 192.271 Neil

In this episode we'll be investigating the issues affecting food production in the UK. As usual, we'll learn some useful new vocabulary, and remember there's a quiz, worksheet and transcript of this episode on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.

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192.423 - 218.663 Pippa

But first of course, Pippa, I have a quiz question for you. I mentioned that Britain imports 40% of its food from other producers, mostly in Europe. But which European country does the UK import the most food from? Is it a. France, b. The Netherlands or c. Ireland? I've seen the Netherlands on a lot of food packaging in the UK, so I'm going to say b. The Netherlands.

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218.849 - 247.267 Pippa

Okei, well, we'll find out if you're right later in the programme. According to the UK government's recent report, there are many issues affecting Britain's food supply. Geopolitical conflicts like those in Ukraine and Iran, droughts and water shortages, loss of biodiversity caused by climate change. The list goes on and on. Here, climate reporter Mark Pointing discusses the report's conclusions with BBC Radio 4's The Food Programme.

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247.267 - 269.187 Mark Pointing

It really draws on scientific research to come up with what it calls as a reasonable worst case scenario for how biodiversity loss could affect UK security. Its conclusions are really quite stark. The first line of the report says global ecosystem degradation and collapse threatens the UK's national security.

269.373 - 304.321 Neil

Mark says the report's conclusions are stark, an adjective which in this case means obvious or severe. Another problem with food security relates to climate change. Carbon emissions from food production make up around a third of all greenhouse gases, from the diesel used to drive tractors to fertilizers to cows and sheep producing methane.

Chapter 3: How does climate change affect food production in the UK?

304.321 - 334.088 Emma Pinchbeck

Emma Pinchbeck is the chief executive of the UK's Climate Change Committee. She spoke about this problem with BBC Radio 4's The Food Program. The biggest chunk of emissions from agriculture comes from simply having livestock on the land. That's the bit of the puzzle that we need to think about going forward. And in the way that we've thought about it, for every cow or sheep we take off the land, we put on something else. And what that does overall is it makes farmers and landowners part of the solution to climate change, not the problem.

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334.207 - 350.98 Pippa

Livestock, that's farm animals, such as cattle, sheep and pigs, contribute most of the carbon emissions from agriculture. Moving towards a sustainable food supply involves reducing the amount of meat and dairy we eat in favor of non-animal protein, such as beans and lentils.

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351.318 - 365.797 Neil

Encouraging farmers and consumers to move away from meat is a piece of the puzzle, according to Emma. A piece of the puzzle means a part of the solution to a problem, in this case the twin problems of food security and climate change.

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366.016 - 387.278 Pippa

Emma says it's important to think again about how farmland is used. For every cow or sheep taken off the land, something else, such as a fruit tree or vegetable crop, is put in its place. That way farmers become part of the solution, not the problem. An idiom meaning that if you are not actively trying to fix a problem, you are helping it continue.

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387.43 - 413.097 Pippa

Lots of ideas to chew over there, Neil. But now, isn't it time you revealed the answer to your question? My question was, which European country does the UK import the most food from? And you said b, the Netherlands. And you were absolutely correct, Pippa. It is the Netherlands. The UK imports 7.6 billion pounds worth of imports, especially vegetables and dairy.

413.097 - 441.397 Pippa

OK, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned, starting with food security – the situation where a country has a reliable enough supply of food to feed its population. The worst case scenario is the worst possible thing that could happen in a particular situation. The adjective stark has several meanings, including obvious and severe. Livestock are animals and birds that are kept on a farm, such as cows, sheep or chickens.

441.582 - 445.801 Pippa

The phrase a piece of the puzzle means a part of the solution to a problem.

445.953 - 472.801 Neil

And finally, the idiom be part of the solution, not the problem, means that if you are not actively trying to fix a problem, you are helping it continue. Once again, our six minutes are up, but if this topic has made you hungry for more, why not check out our food topic page on our website, bbclearningenglish.com. Bye for now. Goodbye.

477.138 - 504.239 Unknown

Missä se on? Et täältä kaapesta löydä mitään. Parasta ennen 2012. Huna ja ei, ei. Äiti, missä on hillo? DNA vei sun hillot. Miten niin DNA vei? Pitäks mun syödä näitä lettuja jolloin sinapilla? Nyt pitää, kun DNAn uusiin liittymiin kuuluu turvallinen nettiselaus. Se estää ihmisiä menemästä suhujaussivustoille. Kirottua DNA. DNA huoleton on uuden ajan liittymä turvallisella nettiselauksella.

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