Work sheet / text : Almost half of the world’s food thrown away

Work sheet / text : Almost half of the world’s food thrown away

1 – Sum up the topic of this article (min 5 lines)

This article deals with the tremendous waste of various kind of resources all around the planet : waste of food, waste of water, waste of consumption goods, waste of land … and the lack of awareness of its inhabitants. 

2 – Using the information from your economy class, define what sustainable development is… .

Sustainable development is an organizing principle for human life on a finite planet. It means a desirable future state for human societies in which living conditions and resource-use meet human needs without undermining the sustainability of natural systems and the environment, so that future generations may also have their needs met.  The term used by the Brundtland Commission defined it as development with sustainability that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

• a better environment – that means green spaces, play areas, nice gardens, decent houses, less noise and pollution. The resources used should renew over generations.
• a better economy – that means jobs, reasonable prices, cheaper heat and light
• better social conditions – that means good leisure facilities, lots of community groups offering sports and arts, friendly neighbors.

3 – …and make the link with the content of the text.

Obviously the article is a denunciation of how we live today and how we use the earth's resources .

The beginning of the text is very significant of our total disrespect and our great stupidity.

: “As much as half of all the food produced in the world – equivalent to 2bn tones – ends up as waste every year, and never makes it to the plates”.

Through this example and the other wastes quoted, it seems difficult to maintain our GDP’s growth rate , without compromising “the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

Our short term vision is risky, and may certainly reduce the standards of living conditions for the next generations. Some natural resources are already lacking and won’t be available for our children anymore.  

4 – Quote other wastes that are not mentioned by the journalist.

We can mention the insufficiency of systematic recycling for all consumption goods as well as our tendency to throw away rather than trying to fix what can be repaired.

5 – How many planets are necessary to permit the standard of life of the American people. (try to use the concept of biocapacity)

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