📘 Part 3: Agriculture and food production

This episode's vocabulary

• To germinate (verb) - to (cause a seed to) start growing.
• Countryside (noun) - land not in towns, cities, or industrial areas, that is either used for farming or left in its natural condition.
• Exposed (adj.) - having no protection from bad weather.
• To thrive (verb) - to grow, develop, or be successful.
• Economies of scale (plural noun) - the reduction of production costs that is a result of making and selling goods in large quantities, for example, the ability to buy large amounts of materials at reduced prices.
• Allotment (noun) - to give something, especially a share of something available, for a particular purpose.
• Hedgerow (noun) - a line of different types of bushes and small trees growing very close together, especially between fields or along the sides of roads in the countryside.
• To preserve (verb) - to keep something as it is, especially in order to prevent it from decaying or being damaged or destroyed.
• A load - a lot.
• Predatory (adj.) - A predatory person or organization tries to get something that belongs to someone else.
• The bare minimum (noun) - the least possible amount.
• Credit (noun) - praise, approval, or honour.
• Pesticide (noun) - a chemical substance used to kill harmful insects, small animals, wild plants, and other unwanted organisms.
• Taxing (adj.) - difficult or needing a lot of thought or effort.
• Variant (noun) - something that is slightly different from other similar things.
• Polythene (noun) - a light, usually thin, soft plastic, often used for making bags or for keeping things dry or fresh.
• To take something with a pinch of salt (idiom) - to not completely believe something that you are told, because you think it is unlikely to be true.
• Reservoir (noun) - a place for storing liquid, especially a natural or artificial lake providing water for a city or other area.
• Landslide (noun) - a mass of rock and earth moving suddenly and quickly down a steep slope.
• Eventuality (noun) - something unpleasant or unexpected that might happen or exist in the future.

Questions and Answers

M: Have new kinds of plants been grown in your city recently?

R: Well, spring came recently, so I suppose a lot of plants will be germinating after the winter periods. But if you mean ones grown by people, then none near me, possibly further towards the countryside, then it's possible. But where I live, it's too exposed. And it's too close to the sea for such things to thrive.

M: Are there many people growing their own vegetables now?

R: In my country? I would say fewer than before, actually. Since mass agriculture allows for economies of scale, but people growing things in allotments just can't beat. They still do, though, just not in anywhere near as large numbers as before.

M: Should schools teach children how to grow plants?

R: I don't see why not. Since, well, it should help people understand life cycles and the important roles that plants play in our lives. Not just the things to eat. But as things like national symbols and natural barriers, like with field borders and hedgerows. If they can see and understand the process, they'll be more likely to explain and preserve plants as they see the value of them.

M: What do you think of the job of a farmer?

R: Well, I know I wouldn't want to do it. It seems like a load of very hard work with minimal rewards, especially with the almost predatory role that large food corporations play in paying them the bare minimum. It can't be easy. And I don't get enough credit. I mean, you certainly don't see this kind of thing in the papers in this country.

M: What are the differences between traditional and modern agriculture?

R: Oh, well, surely that depends where you draw the line at the concepts. At least I suppose so. Generally, traditional farming is probably smaller scale, uses fewer industrial methods like pesticides, and is less demanding on the environment. Of course, that will mean the smaller output too. Modern agriculture seems like the opposite. Big farms, lots of chemicals and processes and massively taxing for the local soil. But with a lot of food produced as a result.

M: How much traditional farming is there now in your country?

R: Oh, God only knows. I can't remember the last time I even went to a farm, and even driving past fields these days seems like more modern variants with tractors and polythene covers. And who decides what's traditional too? So with that in mind, I would say not much based on what I can see. But take that with a pinch of salt, because that's... I have no idea. That's just my personal experience.

M: Is there enough water in your country to support farming?

R: Well, I would certainly hope so, since we have a lot of natural reservoirs in terms of lochs and lakes in Scotland. And we're surrounded by the sea on most sides. Plus it rains regularly. You never hear about it on the news either. Unlike countries further to the south. So if we don't have enough water, then you have to wonder who does?

M: Does bad weather affect the food supply where you live?

R: Well, not a great deal given the development of the transport links. Possibly in more isolated areas, something like a landslide might prevent food deliveries for a while. But people who live in those areas are generally well prepared for eventualities like that.

M: Hey! Thank you, Rory, for your agriculture answers!

R: Much better educated on this subject than I thought, to be honest.

Discussion

M: So we grow plants, dear listener. Okay? What does it mean to germinate?

R: Oh, to germinate. So, if you ever look at a seed just as it starts to open, or burst. And the flower starts to grow. This is germination, it's when it starts to grow after a long period of not growing. So typically, plants germinate or plants are germinating after winter because they're cold so they don't grow. And then the spring comes or the summer comes and they start to grow.

M: So you can say that in spring, a lot of plants will be germinating or plants will be germinating after winter. Also, plants thrive. So lots of plants are grown in my city, and they usually thrive in spring or in summer. This means that they kind of grow well.

R: But you can use that to describe people as well as plants. If you're thriving you're doing well.

M: Some people grow their own vegetables or veg or veggies. Rory told us that fewer people than before grow their own vegetables. So not less, fewer people, like not as many people as before. What did you mean by growing things in allotment?

R: Oh, allotments are small pieces of land, typically in city limits or in suburban areas where people grow their own food or where people can grow their own food, they grow other things too.

M: So kind of a small piece of land. An allotment. Like a house and some land. Yeah?

R: Yeah.

M: Yeah. So you can say that, okay, in my country, people usually grow things in allotments, in their country houses. And we can also talk about mass agriculture. So it's kind of like, when big companies grow things massively.

R: Yes. Anything to do with big things is mass. So big farms, big shopping centres, this kind of thing. Big supermarkets.

M: Children should be taught how to grow plants at school. Well, plants or plants, because they can understand life cycles, dear listener. The cycle of life.

R: I'm trying to think if there are any other reasons why you would do that. Can you think of any?

M: Well, to teach them how to grow plants next to the house, in their allotment.

R: But almost no one is a farmer. I don't know if many people do that anymore, do they?

M: Yeah, but they do. Like it's nice to grow your own herbs for salads and tea. You know, kind of like, if you have some land, like why not grow your own veg? I think it's getting more and more popular, actually. And also, like, small farmers, they can sell their food to restaurants, and lots of famous restaurants like Michelin restaurants, they buy fresh veggies, fruit and herbs from local farmers.

R: Do they? Oh, wow. Okay, that's good then. I thought it was the opposite way.

M: It's a new trend. What are hedgerows?

R: Hedgerows are just, well, they're usually at the edge of fields. And they're these bushes that appear at the edges to mark where the edges are, and to shield the crops inside from the wind. They also provide an ecosystem that supports the local ecology as well. But that's maybe too complicated to talk about now.

M: And you can say that children can understand and see the process of growing plants. And also they can take care of plants. And this could teach them, you know, how to take care of people. You know? First they take care of a plant. They make sure they don't murder it like Rory usually does.

R: Hey! I'm doing pretty well.

M: Really? So your plants are not dead yet?

R: I... Oh, I need to check my bonsai tree, but I'm assuming it will be okay.

M: So they can preserve plants, kind of like save plants. Maybe they can save a rare species of plants. Species like kinds of plants, preserve, save. And see the value of them, the value of plants, like national symbols, some plants are national symbols. So it's good to show children how to take care of plants. A job of a farmer, dear listener. So we have farming and farmers. And Rory says that I wouldn't want to do it. Well, okay.

R: I would not want to do it. Would anybody want to be a farmer? That's hard work.

M: Yeah, but if you kind of, if you are, even if you are a local farmer, and you have a small garden, still, yeah, lots of work. So it's very hard work. Or you can say it seems like a load of very hard work. A load of work? A lot of work. With minimal rewards Rory says. Like minimal? Well, almost nothing. Rewards? What you gain from your farming. I here would disagree. Because you grow things, dear listener. You put effort, and then you have... Kind of your pear fruits, literally. But also, the weather could be horrible, the weather could be cold, and then everything you've planted and taken care of just dies, just because of a hurricane, or heavy rains or snow in the middle of summer. Okay? And all your crops. Crops. This is what you grow. Could die, unfortunately. So yeah, this is like a lot of work with minimal rewards. Here also you can talk about a predatory role of large food corporations. What is a predatory role?

R: Well, I'm sure they don't mean it to be this way. But a lot of food corporations pay local farmers extremely poorly for the work they do in order to maximize their profit. And they do things like bully and cajole farmers into doing certain things. So it is this kind of predatory behaviour in order to extract the maximum benefit they behave in this manner. Which is not good. And I don't recommend it.

M: Wow. Also, you can say that farmers don't get enough credit.

R: No.

M: Which means that, well, we should recognize them more, we should pay them more. We kind of don't appreciate them enough. Okay? Well, also, you can say like, teachers don't get enough credit. Doctors don't get enough credit.

R: I like how you lead in with the example of teachers not getting enough credit.

M: Well, but also it's especially true for farmers. Yeah. Traditional and modern agriculture, dear listener. Difficult concepts. You should read more about it. So now go to Google, and you can read about it in your native language. Okay? And Rory says that, well, traditional farming is probably smaller scale.

R: Probably.

M: So it's like smaller.

R: I mean, I don't know what traditional farming is. How do you decide that?

M: I have no idea.

R: If we mean like traditional, like old fashioned then do they mean...

M: Mules, using animals?

R: Yeah. Do they mean before pesticides? Like the Green Revolution in the 1960s. Is that what they mean? I don't know.

M: And you can say like, it depends on what you mean traditional. If you mean using animals to work the field, then it's smaller scale. Now, companies use pesticides, the chemicals, you know? To help plants to grow naturally, surely. There are industrial methods. And more than agriculture means that big farms, lots of chemicals, pesticides, robots maybe.

R: Well, this is what it seems to mean.

M: What did you mean when you say texting for the local soil?

R: Oh, if something is taxing, it means it's tiring, or it works, it's really quite hard. So if you're filling up the local soil with all of these chemicals, and constantly using it to grow things, then that would be putting a great demand on the soil.

M: It means like overusing the soil. Yeah?

R: No, it's just making demands. If you overtax, then you're overusing the soil.

M: Could you give us another sentence with this tax the local soil?

R: Working for more than 14 hours a day could be extremely taxing.

M: For the local... Ah, just extremely taxing for a person?

R: Yes.

M: Now there are more modern farms with tractors and polythene covers. What are polythene covers?

R: Polythene covers are just plastic covers that are placed over plants to increase the temperature so that they grow better. You see this a lot with fruit farms, for example, in my country. Their normal environment is too cold for them to grow. So farmers put these covers over and it increases temperature. At least I think that's how it works.

M: Yeah. So you can say like, well, traditional farming is dying out, and now there are more modern variants. Like modern farms with tractors, different heavy machinery, like different machines used on a farm, and polythene covers. And then you can just go like, who decides what, what does it mean, traditional?

R: Well, what does it mean? Whenever people ask, like, oh, what do you mean? Or what do you think about the difference between the past and now or younger and older people? It's like, well, how do you define younger and older people? Or how do you define when the past begins and when now is? Because those are like really broad things.

M: And you should take that with a pinch of salt. Surely.

R: Yes. So because I'm not an expert, you should take it with a pinch of salt, because what I'm saying could be complete nonsense. So if you take something with a pinch of salt, you're very careful about believing it.

M: You don't believe every word that person says. So you should take it with a pinch of salt. And then an interesting question like, is there enough water in your country?

R: I love that. Is there enough water? Oh, and it's such a weird question. At least for someone like me, I'm surrounded by water. So I'm thinking, wow, yes, there's lots, there's definitely enough water.

M: And we can say that I have a load of natural reservoirs, or like we have in our country, there are a lot of natural reservoirs of water. Like lakes, ponds. And Rory says like lochs because in Scotland lakes are called lochs. And we are surrounded by the sea, or you can say like there is a sea nearby, and it often rains. So more than enough water. Or maybe, dear listener, there is not enough water. There are very few rivers and natural reservoirs. And then Rory asks kind of a question. So if we don't have enough water, then you have to wonder who does? Who does have enough water? But it's kind of, it's not a question to the examiner. And you have to wonder like, it's interesting to know. You have to ask this question.

R: It would be interesting to know. Are there countries like Scotland that don't have enough water?

M: Bad weather does affect the food supply, it does affect farming. So heavy rains, tsunamis or hurricanes can kill all the crops. But Rory says like, nah, not a great deal, you know? Because we have now developed transport links. So all like food is delivered to us from different countries.

R: Well, it's even from different countries. It's just like from one part of the country to the other. So we can always get something I think.

M: Yeah, maybe in isolated areas, without any transport. Like if an area is isolated somewhere in the mountains, there is no way you can go there easily. And some disasters like a landslide. Landslide is when, what, some mud comes from a mountain.

R: Well, it could be mud or rocks. But the point is that stable ground becomes unstable and collapses, usually on top of lower ground. And that's not good if you're underneath it.

M: It could destroy roads, and it could destroy crops. So you can talk about...

R: It could kill you.

M: Yeah, hurricanes, landslides, tsunamis, floods, and fires. Yeah? Can kind of affect food supply. Excellent, dear listener. Make sure to Google modern agriculture versus traditional agriculture. Do read about it in your native language. Okay? So you are an expert on agriculture. Thank you for listening! We'll get back to you in our next episode. Bye!

R: Bye!

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