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IELTS essay, topic: In many countries a lot of food is wasted (reasons and solutions)

This essay topic was seen in a recent IELTS test in South Korea

In many countries, a lot of food is wasted. Why do people waste food? How can we reduce the amount of food waste?

Sample Band 8 Essay

Despite the fact that millions of people in the world go hungry every day, a surprisingly large amount of food gets wasted daily in certain parts of the world. In my opinion, the main reason for this is that people in the first-world countries tend to only buy food that is aesthetically pleasing, and fortunately, there are some ways to tackle this issue.

It is shockingly sad to know that large amounts of perfectly edible food in the form of fresh produce get sent to landfills, and the main reason for this is that these foods do not meet the standards of perfection set for fruits and vegetables by consumers and grocery stores. For example, veggies and fruit that are misshapen or have a few spots on them are still good enough to eat, yet they are often left on shelves to rot in favour of something that looks less damaged. In addition, a lot of customers confuse the ‘best by’ and ‘use by’ dates, thinking that foods that have passed their ‘best by’ dates are no longer fit to eat. Another major reason for food wastage is that people often overestimate the amount of produce they require on a weekly or monthly basis, and most of it ends up getting thrown out instead of being used.

There are many ways to reduce the amount of food being wasted, and I think one of the best ideas is to increase people’s awareness of just how much good food is disposed of, only because of our superficial biases as to how food should look. Raising the awareness of the staggering number of people that go hungry in third-world countries would make it harder to throw away an apple just because it is a little bruised. Also, teaching people how to better plan their monthly food requirements would help them not to overspend on food that they do not need; it would be great for the environment and their budget. The role of the government in this endeavour is indispensable as such task would be too great for any smaller organisation.

To conclude, the wasting food is a serious issue that merits increased awareness from both people and the leaders of the world. It is unacceptable to discard any food when there are so many people who are starving, and hopefully our joint effort can help improve the current situation.

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IELTS Report, topic: Bar chart describing the spending on R&D in 5 countries between 2001 and 2011

This is a model answer for an Academic Writing Task 1 from the IELTS exam in Iran, shared recently. This response is likely to get Band 8 or 8.5 in IELTS.

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task

The bar chart below describes the gross domestic spending on Research and Development in five countries between 2001 and 2011. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words

IELTS Writing Task 1 Bar Chart of spending on Research and Development in five countries between 2001 and 2011

Band 8.5 Model Answer

The bar chart describes the gross domestic expenditure on research and development by China, France, Spain, the UK and the USA during the years 2001, 2005 and 2011.

Overall, it can be seen that there was a general upward trend in the spending of all of 5 countries, albeit to varying degrees.

The USA spent the most on R&D in all three years, with the annual expenditure slightly increasing from 2.5% in 2001 to 2.8% of the country’s GDP in 2011. On the other end of the spectrum, Spain spent the least, starting at just below 1% in 2001 and finishing at around 2.3%.

China’s spending grew more than that of other countries, about 0.5% each year, and increased from about 0.9% in 2001 to around 2.8% in 2011. The remaining two countries, France and the UK, showed a similar pattern and their spending held relatively steady throughout the decade, at around 2% and 1.5% of GDP, respectively.

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