READING & SPEAKING
a What kind of food or dishes do you associate with these countries?
The United States- french fries
China-spicy noodles
France-croissant
Italy-pizza
Japan-Ramen
Mexico-taco
b Read the interviews with Alice and Jacqueline. Match the questions with their answers.
Alice Freeman is a lawyer from San Francisco.
We talk to women around the world about their relationship with food.
1 Is food a pleasure for you?
E. Yes, definitely. For me good meals with the family make me happy!
F. Not really. I enjoy certain kinds of food, but most meals are just fuel to
keep me going through the day.
2 What do you normally eat in a typical day?
D. I usually have a bowl of cereal or toast for breakfast. For lunch I eat at a restaurant near my office. I prefer Japanese or Indian food. I usually eat rice with fish and vegetables, soup or sushi. I don’t eat meat, but I eat a lot of fish.
In the evening, I just have something light at home.
3 Do you ever cook?
B. Not very often. I don’t have the time or talent to cook full meals. I usually
heat up a frozen meal or order a takeaway.
4 Do you ever eat ‘unhealthy’ food? How do you feel about it?
C. Sometimes I get fast food for lunch. I have to admit that I love French fries.
I feel terrible about it afterwards, but I don’t do it very often.
5 Are you trying to cut down on anything at the moment?
E. I am trying to cut down on the amount of fat I eat. I’m also trying to eat more wholemeal bread
6 Are people’s diets in your country getting better or worse?
A. I think people are trying to improve their diets, but they are doing it the wrong way by following diets like the Atkins diet. Personally, I don’t think it’s very healthy to cut out entire groups of foods like carbohydrates.
Jacqueline Fabre is an IT consultant from Lyons.
We talk to women around the world about their relationship with food.
1 Is food a pleasure for you?
2 What do you normally eat in a typical day?
F. I’m quite traditional and I have three main meals a day. For breakfast, I like hot chocolate, and bread and butter with honey or jam. For lunch, I often eat in a restaurant with my colleagues. I usually have vegetables and meat or fish but I love pasta and rice too. In the afternoon, I have fruit with biscuits or a piece of chocolate. In the evening, I have a proper meal with my family.
3 Do you ever cook?
A. Yes, I cook every evening for my family. I often make soup or traditional French dishes like ‘boeuf bourguignon’, which is a kind of beef and red wine stew, and then we have cheese and salad. It may seem a lot but we don’t eat big portions. What’s important for me is quality, not quantity.
4 Do you ever eat ‘unhealthy’ food? How do you feel about it?
D. Not at home. I think most of the food I cook is healthy, but occasionally
when I eat out I have something unhealthy, but it doesn’t worry me.
5 Are you trying to cut down on anything at the moment?
B. Yes, I’m trying to eat less chocolate.
6 Are people’s diets in your country getting better or worse?
C. I think people’s diets are getting worse and worse. It’s quite strange because we have a lot of information now about how bad fast food is for you.
I’m afraid it’s a problem in a lot of European countries.
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