1 . Food brings us together and connects us to our families, friends, nature and to foreign cultures. Food is universal. Food waste, on the other hand, has become a universal problem, as it significantly contributes to climate change. Luckily, there are countries that have laws to require supermarkets or other businesses to donate unsold food.
About one third of all food grown for human consumption is thrown out or wasted according to the Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO). This creates both environmental and financial problems, since traditional agriculture requires large amounts of resources including land and water. Food production is also a major cause of greenhouse gases and climate change.
Food waste occurs at every step of food production from the field to the store. In fact, fruits, vegetables, and roots have the highest waste. Donating food that is unusually wasted does not mean giving away damaged food. Sometimes it is simply a case of food being mislabeled, a can that has a torn label, or slightly bruised fruit.
To reduce both the financial and environmental pressure, Italy passed a law to encourage businesses and farmers to donate unsold food to charities. Companies that donate their leftovers will pay lower taxes on waste removal.
Waste management is also a very costly thing for governments. In fact, according to Global Citizen, in 2016, Italy spent over $13.3 billion on waste management. The idea behind the law is that when it is economic and convenient, companies will happily follow the law.
France was the first country to pass a food donation law in 2016. It required supermarkets that are at least 4,300 square feet to donate unsold food to charity. Since then, 90 percent of supermarkets began donating food, the number of which was 66 percent before the law.
To increase food donations, Israel passed a law in 2018 to ensure that unused food from restaurants, hotels and other places goes to the people that need it most.
1. What does paragraph 2 focus on?
| A．FAO's guidelines. | B．Human eating diets. |
| C．Global climate change. | D．Food waste problems. |
2. What is most likely to be given away according to the law?
| A．Heavily broken canned food. | B．Unhealthy vegetables. |
| C．Slightly bruised fruit. | D．Damaged food. |
3. What benefit will the Italian government get from the law?
| A．It will sell donated food to make money. | B．It will ask companies to pay higher taxes. |
| C．It will save money on waste management. | D．It will attract more international companies. |
4. What is known about the food donation law?
| A．It seems difficult to pass in Israel. | B．It takes effect gradually in France. |
| C．It is just applied in supermarkets. | D．It is an unsuccessful try in France. |
