CL4 Listening Exam 3 – Level B2January 2008

Prof. Peter Cullen

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Listen to the following text about organic and Fair-trade food.

(from the Economist: Dec. 9th, 2006)

If you think you can make the planet better by clever shopping, think again. You might make it worse.

The idea that shopping is the new politics is certainly seductive. If you are worried about the environment, you might buy organic food. If you want to help poor farmers, you can support them by purchasing Fair-trade products. You can express your dislike of evil multinational companies and rampant globalisation by purchasing only local fruits, vegetables, meat, and fish. The best part is that shopping, unlike voting for politicians, is fun – so you can do good and enjoy yourself at the same time.

Sadly, it’s not that easy. Transforming the planet requires less enjoyable disciplines, like politics. Organic food, which is food grown without man-made pesticides and fertilisers, is assumed to be more environmentally friendly than conventional intensive farming, which relies heavily on chemicals. It all depends, however, on what you mean by the term “environmentally friendly”. Agriculture is inherently bad for the environment. Since humans began agricultural production 11,000 years ago, the result has been deforestation on a massive scale. At present, agriculture accounts for approximately 14% of greenhouse gas emissions, while deforestation accounts for a further 18.2%. Inefficient agricultural production, therefore, accounts for a significant part of global warming.

Since the 1960’s, however, greater use of chemical fertiliser has tripled grain production, but resulted in very little increase in the area of land under cultivation. Organic methods, which rely on crop rotation, and animal and vegetable based fertiliser, are much less intensive. Producing the world’s current agricultural output by organic farming methods would require much more land than is currently cultivated. There wouldn’t be much room for the rain forest.

Fair-trade food, as well, is designed to raise poor farmer’s incomes. It is sold at a higher price than ordinary food, with a subsidy returned to the farmer. Fair-trade coffee is an example of this type of commodity production. But the prices of agricultural commodities are low because of overproduction. By guaranteeing a subsidy, therefore, the Fair-trade system encourages farmers to produce more of certain types of commoditiesrather than diversifying into other types. This, over-production lowers the overall price, and results in lower returns to the farmer – exactly the opposite of the result intended.

Consumption of locally produced food should help minimise the amount of costly and polluting transport used to get the food from the producer to the market. A study of Britain’s food distribution system, however, found that nearly half the food-vehicle-miles (that is – the number of miles travelled by vehicles carrying food) resulted from people driving from their homes to the supermarket. Most people live closer to a supermarket than to a farmer’s market, so it appears that the large-scale transportation of food used by supermarket retailers is the most efficient means of transport.

The best thing about the ethical or “slow” food movement is that it sends a message of great frustration with governments that are not doing enough to preserve the environment. This suggests that if politicians put the environment on the political agenda, people might vote for them. So if you really want to make a difference to the environment, don’t forget to vote.

Listening Exam 3 – Level B2January 2008

Prof. Peter Cullen

______

Name, Date, and Registration Number

Questions: Answer only 5 of the following questions. ANSWER ONLY 5!!! NOT 6!!!

YOU DO NOT HAVE TOWRITE COMPLETE SENTENCES!!!!!

  1. What is meant by the terms “organic food”, “Fair-trade food”, and “local food”?
  1. What effect has agriculture had on the environment since humans began farming 11,000 years ago?
  1. What are the advantages of chemical fertilisers?
  1. How might the Fair-trade system hurt agricultural producers?
  1. What did the study of Britain’s food distribution system discover about the environmental impact of “local food” consumption?
  1. What positive effect can the “ethical” or “slow” food movement have?

Listening Exam 3 – Level B2January 2008

Prof. Peter Cullen

Answer Sheet

  1. What is meant by the terms “organic food”, “Fair-trade”, and “local food”?

Organic food is food grown without man-made pesticides and fertilisers.

Fair-trade food is food sold at a higher price, with a subsidy returned to the farmer.

Local food is food purchased and consumed close to the area of production.

  1. What effect has agriculture had on the environment since humans began farming 11,000 years ago?

Since humans began agricultural production 11,000 years ago, the result has been deforestation on a massive scale. At present, agriculture accounts for approximately 14% of greenhouse gas emissions, while deforestation accounts for a further 18.2%. Inefficient agricultural production, therefore, accounts for a significant part of global warming.

  1. What are the advantages of chemical fertilisers?

Since the 1960’s, greater use of chemical fertiliser has tripled grain production, but resulted in very little increase in the area of land under cultivation..

  1. How might the Fair-trade system hurt agricultural producers?

By guaranteeing a subsidy, the Fair-trade system encourages farmers to produce more of certain types of commodities rather than diversifying into other types. This, over-production lowers the overall price, and results in lower returns to the farmer – exactly the opposite of the result intended.

  1. What did the study of Britain’s food distribution system discover about the environmental impact of “local food” consumption?

The study of Britain’s food distribution system found that nearly half the food-vehicle-miles (that is – the number of miles travelled by vehicles carrying food) resulted from people driving from their homes to the supermarket. Most people live closer to a supermarket than to a farmer’s market, so it appears that the large-scale transportation of food used by supermarket retailers is the most efficient means of transport.

  1. What positive effect can the “ethical” or “slow” food movement have?

The best thing about the ethical or “slow” food movement is that it sends a message of great frustration with governments that are not doing enough to preserve the environment. This suggests that if politicians put the environment on the political agenda, people might vote for them.

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