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  • Neil: Hello. This is 6 Minute English

  • I'm Neil.

  • Catherine: And I'm Catherine.

  • Neil: Catherine, are you flexitarian?

  • Catherine: No, I'm not really religious, Neil.

  • Neil: It's not a religion! It's a diet.

  • It means mainly eating plant-based foods

  • and only occasionally eating meat.

  • Catherine: Oh, I see, sorry ... er, well,

  • I don't eat too much meat so I'm kind of

  • on the way to flexitarianism.

  • Neil: Some people don't eat meat for

  • ethical reasons. That means that

  • for them it's wrong to eat meat,

  • it's wrong that animals should be killed

  • for our food. But one of the reasons

  • for being flexitarian and only eating meat

  • once in a while is for the benefit of the

  • planet. According to a recent report, being

  • flexitarian is healthier for the individual

  • but can also help to fight climate change.

  • Before we look in more detail at this topic,

  • a question: Do you like

  • peppers, Catherine?

  • Catherine: Yes, I do. Is that correct?

  • Neil: Well, that's not the quiz question!

  • But this is. All peppers are in the same

  • food group. What group is it?

  • Are peppers: a) fruit, b) vegetables or

  • c) herbs? Any ideas?

  • Catherine: This one sounds like

  • a trick question - but I think it's

  • obviously vegetables. Yep?

  • Neil: Well, you'll have to wait a bit to find

  • out. I'll have the answer later

  • in the programme.

  • Now, Dr Marco Springmann is from

  • the University of Oxford and was

  • one of the lead authors of a major report

  • that looked at the global food system

  • and how it affects the climate.

  • On the BBC Today programme he

  • talked about what changes would

  • be needed. Does he mention

  • just one thing?

  • Dr Marco Springmann: We really found

  • that a combination of measures

  • would be needed to stay within

  • environmental limits and those include

  • changes towards healthier, more

  • plant-based diets, ambitious

  • technological improvements and changes

  • in farming management, and a reduction

  • of food loss and waste.

  • Neil: So did he mention just

  • one thing, Catherine?

  • Catherine: No, not at all. He said that

  • there would need to be

  • a combination of measures which means

  • 'a variety of different actions' including

  • moving to a plant-based diet, developing

  • technology, changing the way

  • we farm and wasting less food.

  • Neil: He described the need for ambitious

  • technological improvements. Ambitious

  • here means the developments

  • will have to be 'impressive, above

  • the ordinary and not simple'.

  • Dr Springmann was asked if we had

  • to completely remove meat

  • from the food that we eat to be

  • healthy. What was his recommendation?

  • Dr Marco Springmann: Well, we looked ...

  • we surveyed the literature on what

  • a healthy diet is and according to that,

  • if you treat it as a luxury, it's probably

  • OK but you shouldn't have more than

  • one serving of red meat, which includes

  • beef and pork, per week. So the more

  • plant-based you go, the healthier and

  • lower environmental impact it will be.

  • BBC Today programme presenter: And

  • lamb is just the same...

  • Dr Marco Springmann: Yes.

  • Neil: So do we need to

  • cut out meat entirely?

  • Catherine: He says that while

  • a plant-based diet is certainly healthier,

  • you could still have some

  • red meat but only once a week.

  • Neil: Yes, he said think of it as a luxury.

  • A luxury food is one that we really enjoy

  • but don't eat very often - perhaps

  • because it's very expensive or rare.

  • Catherine: Or delicious but very bad

  • for us. We eat it as a treat but not

  • every day. Springmann says we should

  • think of red meat in the same way.

  • It shouldn't be a regular part of our diet.

  • Neil: How did he come to this opinion?

  • Did they just make it up

  • themselves because it

  • sounds like a good idea?

  • Catherine: Not at all, Neil. He said that

  • they surveyed the literature.

  • This means that as part of their

  • report they studied different scientific

  • research that had previously been

  • published. Their advice is based on

  • the evidence of those research papers.

  • Neil: OK. Now the answer to our quiz

  • question. I asked to what food group

  • do peppers belong.

  • Was it: a) fruit, b) vegetables, c) herbs?

  • Catherine, you said?

  • Catherine: I said b) vegetables.

  • Neil: Oh dear, good try but not right,

  • thanks for playing. The answer is a) fruit.

  • Catherine: Fruit? Really?

  • Neil: Yes. A fruit is the part of plant that

  • contains the seeds - so peppers,

  • like tomatoes, pumpkins, avocados and

  • olives are actually fruit. Well done if

  • you got that one right.

  • Now, our vocabulary.

  • Our first word is flexitarian.

  • This is the term for a diet

  • that is mainly plant-based but

  • can include meat occasionally.

  • Catherine: Our next word is ethical.

  • This is in the context of choosing

  • not to eat meat.

  • Some people are vegetarian because

  • they don't like meat, some because

  • they want a healthier diet and some

  • for ethical reasons. This means

  • that their choice is because they feel it

  • is the right thing to do.

  • Neil: The next phrase was a combination

  • of measures. This means 'taking

  • different actions to achieve

  • something', not just doing one thing.

  • Catherine: We then had ambitious.

  • If a person is ambitious it means

  • that they 'want to get

  • on in life and be successful', but

  • ambitious can also be used to describe

  • a plan or achievement which is

  • 'impressive and above the ordinary'.

  • Neil: The next phrase was

  • to survey the literature. This means to

  • 'study and analyse the different

  • scientific research on a particular subject'.

  • Catherine: And finally we had luxury.

  • When talking about food, a luxury

  • is something that we only eat

  • occasionally as a special treat because

  • it's expensive or unhealthy but delicious.

  • Neil: Well, I'm off for a plate of delicious

  • vegetables. Please join us next time and

  • why not check us out on your favourite

  • social media platform, on our app and

  • of course the website

  • bbclearningenglish.com? Goodbye.

  • Catherine: Bye!

Neil: Hello. This is 6 Minute English

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