【英语听和读】食物

 Yvonne: In the past, English food has often been described as boring and tasteless. But

times have certainly changed and now many restaurants, particularly in
London, serve interesting dishes – and people enjoy cooking delicious meals
for their friends. So now, English food is officially delicious – or is it?
I’m Yvonne Archer 1 and you're listening to Entertainment from
bbclearningenglish.com!
Digby Anderson was Director of Britain's Social Affairs Unit which looks at
issues affecting society and at how individuals can be more responsible. But
he's now retired 3 and has just written a book called "The English at Table" in
which he expresses some very strong opinions. Digby thinks English food is
awful because we're "lazy and ignorant 4" – we don't enough about food or much
else. So what do English people eat? Which five places does Digby say we
have to look in to find out?
INSERT
If you want to know what the English eat, you don't look at high quality restaurants. Ninety
seven per cent of English people don't go to them anyway. What you look at is what they eat
in airports, on the streets, in hospitals where the food is vile 5, in schools where we now know
the food is awful… Anywhere - especially in the home, because they still eat in the home.
Yvonne: So according to Digby Anderson, if we want to know what English people eat,
it's not worth looking in what he calls 'high quality restaurants' – restaurants
where the best food is served – because 97% of us don't go to them. Hmmm,
I'm not sure that many of my friends would agree. 
Entertainment © BBC Learning 2 English
Page 2 of 3
bbclearningenglish.com
INSERT
What you look at is what they eat in airports, on the streets, in hospitals - where the food is
vile - in schools, where we now know the food is awful. Anywhere - especially in the home
because they still eat in the home.
Yvonne: Airports, on the streets, in hospitals, in schools and at home are all places
where English people can be found eating. But did you notice the adjective 6
Digby used to describe English hospital food? He said it's 'vile' – it's so terrible
that it's sickening.
Of course, food outside the home can be vile and unhealthy – and that's why
there's nothing better than a home-cooked meal eaten around the family table.
But is this always the case? Where does Digby think most English families eat
their meals - and who does he say does most of the cooking?
INSERT
They don't of course eat at tables - 40% don't have a table to eat off. They eat off sofas where
the food goes mostly down the back of the sofa and they don't eat together at home. The
people that do the cooking at home, which is mostly the wives and mothers, rarely go
shopping, they shop as seldom as they possibly can – it isn't that they don't like shopping –
they shop for anything…they love shopping, but not food.
Yvonne: Oh dear – Digby is quite rude about the English and their food. He says that
40% of English people 'don't have tables to eat off' – so they don't even own a
dining table where they can eat their meals. They usually eat while sitting on
sofas – and that's where a lot of the food goes - 'down the back of the sofa'.
Yuck! And who does most of the cooking? Yes, he says the wives and mothers
– the women - who love shopping but apparently 7, not for food!
INSERT
They shop carelessly, they don't cook carefully. They're not practised in what they do and as a
result their families can't be bothered to come together to eat. 
Entertainment © BBC Learning English
Page 3 of 3
bbclearningenglish.com
Yvonne: Digby thinks that people aren't practised in cooking – they don't do it often
enough to become good at it. Allegra McEvedy is about to publish a new
colour cookbook of her own and has this advice for us all so that we can eat
well:
INSERT
You need to plan your menus, you need to plan when you're going to shop, where you're
going to shop and what you're going to eat and with a little bit of planning you can eat well
with very little time input 8.
 
Yvonne: So if we plan what we're going to eat and when we're going to shop for it,
eating well shouldn't be too difficult. And as Allegra put it, we can 'eat well
with very little time input' – without spending too much time preparing the
food. Perhaps Digby agrees. Let's hear what they have to say to each other…
INSERT
Digby: It is no use thinking that you can not bother to cook all week and then do one big
meal on Sunday or that you can just wait until you have some people round for a
dinner party. You've got to do it everyday otherwise you might as well just give
up.
Allegra: Well, I think everyday isn't realistic in this day and age. Everyone works 9 hard, I
mean everyone I know works hard - they don't get in until very late…
Digby: Nonsense 10!
Yvonne: While Digby believes that people should cook every day, Allegra thinks that
this is 'unrealistic' – it's not really possible, because people work very hard and
get home late. But Digby simply says that's 'nonsense'! Perhaps you think he
has a point. Is it important for families to eat together? And are home cooked
meals always the best - even if we're not very good at cooking?