Goodbye, fish and chips: changing trends in British dining
Level 1 l Elementary
1 Warmer
Make a list of five healthy foods.
Make a list of five unhealthy foods.
What are the most popular foods in your country?
2 Key words
Fill the gaps in the sentences using these key words from the text. The paragraph numbers will help you.
courgette skimmed convenience food triple low-calorie
1. __________________________ foods or drinks help people to lose weight. (para 3)
2. __________________________ milk has had the cream removed from it. (para 3)
3. __________________________ is quick and easy to prepare. (para 4)
4. When things ___________________________, they increase so that they are three times bigger than before.
(para 4)
5. A __________________________ is a long vegetable with dark green skin. (para 5)
trends double takeaway cuisine aubergine
6. An __________________________ is a vegetable with a smooth dark purple skin. (para 5)
7. A __________________________ meal is one you buy in a restaurant or shop and take home to eat. (para 5)
8. When things __________________________, they increase so that they are twice as big as before. (para 5)
9. __________________________ are fashions. (para 7)
10. __________________________ is a particular style of cooking food, particularly the style of a particular
country or region. (para 7)
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NEWS LESSONS / Goodbye, fish and chips: changing trends in British dining / Elementary
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 Goodbye, fish and chips: changing trends in British dining
Level 1 l Elementary
ate an average of 157g of fruit per day. Bananas
Goodbye, fish and chips: National
have been the most popular fruit in the UK since
Food Survey data reveals changing
1996  adults ate 221g per adult per week in 2014,
trends in British dining
much more than apples (131g) and oranges (48g).
Delphine Robineau
Half of all soft drinks British people drink are now
18 February, 2016
low-calorie soft drinks. Britons also spend a smaller
percentage of their salaries on food today  11%,
1 Tea, baked beans on toast and fish and chips have
compared with 24% in 1974.
always been popular in Britain. But, things are
7 The UK Environment Secretary, Elizabeth Truss,
changing, according to data published recently in
said:  Food is the heart of our society. This data
the National Food Survey.
shows what we were eating 40 years ago but,
2 Everyone knows that the British love tea but they
also, how a change in culture has led to a food
drink more than 50% less tea than in the 1970s 
revolution. People care more about where their
68g of tea per person per week compared to only
food comes from than before, we can order quality
25g. Britons are now drinking on average only eight
food on the internet, fashionable restaurants give
cups of tea a week  they drank 23 cups in 1974.
us the latest trends and exciting global cuisines are
Tea is still the most popular hot drink in the UK but
now as common as fish and chips.
people now spend more money on coffee.
8 She added that this data can show us more than
3 The data comes from 150,000 families who
what, where or how older generations ate. It can
took part in the survey between 1974 and 2000,
also show us when our habits changed. The
combined with information from 2000 to 2014. It
National Food Survey can tell us a lot and help us
shows a move towards healthier food in recent
to predict new food trends.  I look forward to seeing
years  people have changed to low-calorie soft
how we can use this data to learn more about our
drinks, from whole to skimmed milk and they eat
past and grow our world-leading food and farming
more fresh fruit. But, the amount of chips, pizza,
industry in the future, she said.
crisps and ready meals they eat each week has
increased a lot. © Guardian News and Media 2016
First published in The Guardian, 18/02/16
4 There has also been an enormous change from
white to brown bread. The survey also shows the
amount of bread people eat has fallen from 25 to 15
slices a week over the past forty years. The amount
of baked beans people eat has reduced by 20%.
But, there has been an increase in other types of
convenience food, particularly Italian dishes. Adults
in the UK now eat an average of 75g of pizza every
week compared with none in 1974. The amount
of pasta they eat has almost tripled over the same
period.
5 Fresh potatoes are also becoming less popular
with a 67% decrease from 1974, when adults ate
the around 188g every day. People eat more of
other vegetables such as cucumbers, courgettes,
aubergines and mushrooms. The amount of
takeaway food they eat has almost doubled since
1974, from 80g per person per week to 150g.
Around 33g of this amount is chips and 56g is
meat, with kebabs (10g), chicken (7g), burgers (5g)
and  meat-based meals (32g) particularly popular.
6 It seems that British people are now more careful
about what they eat  the amount of fruit has
increased by 50% since 1974. In 2014, UK adults
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NEWS LESSONS / Goodbye, fish and chips: changing trends in British dining / Elementary
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 Goodbye, fish and chips: changing trends in British dining
Level 1 l Elementary
Information search
3
Which of these foods and drinks have become more popular since the 1970s and which have become
less popular?
food or drink more popular less popular
1. baked beans
2. pasta
3. crisps
4. cucumbers
5. tea
6. pizza
7. bread
8. mushrooms
9. chips
10. potatoes
4 Comprehension check
Match the beginnings and endings to make statements about the text.
1. British people today eat & a. & where their food comes from.
2. They are drinking & b. & more convenience foods than they did before.
3. They are eating & c. & in the amount of chips, pizza and crisps British
people eat each week.
4. For the past 20 years, & d. & healthier food than in the past.
5. Shoppers today have more information about & e. & bananas have been the most popular fruit in
the UK.
6. There has been a big increase & f. & much less tea than they did 40 years ago.
5 Chunks
Rearrange the words to make phrases from the text.
1. the years over forty past
2. the period same over
3. per 80g person week per
4. soft low- drinks calorie
5. smaller salaries of percentage a their
6. more learn about past our
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NEWS LESSONS / Goodbye, fish and chips: changing trends in British dining / Elementary
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 Goodbye, fish and chips: changing trends in British dining
Level 1 l Elementary
6 Two-word expressions
Match the words in the left-hand column with the words in the right-hand column to make phrases from
the text.
a. calorie
1. baked
b. drinks
2. healthier
c. food
3. brown
d. fruit
4. low-
e. beans
5. soft
f. bread
6. fresh
7 Word stress
Put these words into two groups according to their stress.
average amount burger kebab compared
survey (n) habit culture around predict
A 0 o B o 0
8 Discussion
" Which foods or drinks have become more or less popular in your country since the 1970s?
" Should there be a special tax on unhealthy food and drink with a lot of sugar or salt? Why? Why not?
© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2016
NEWS LESSONS / Goodbye, fish and chips: changing trends in British dining / Elementary
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 Goodbye, fish and chips: changing trends in British dining
Level 1 l Elementary
KEY
2 Key words 5 Chunks
1. low-calorie 1. over the past forty years
2. skimmed 2. over the same period
3. convenience food 3. 80g per person per week
4. triple 4. low-calorie soft drinks
5. courgette 5. a smaller percentage of their salaries
6. aubergine 6. learn more about our past
7. takeaway
8. double
6 Two-word expressions
9. trends
10. cuisine
1. e
2. c
3 Information search 3. f
4. a
5. b
food or drink more popular less popular
6. d
1. baked beans
2. pasta
7 Word stress
3. crisps
4. cucumbers
A 0 o B o 0
5. tea
average amount
burger kebab
6. pizza
survey compared
7. bread
habit around
8. mushrooms
culture predict
9. chips
10. potatoes
4 Comprehension check
1. d
2. f
3. b
4. e
5. a
6. c
© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2016
NEWS LESSONS / Goodbye, fish and chips: changing trends in British dining / Elementary
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