Read the following passage and answer questions from 46 to 50. The wastage of…
2022
Read the following passage and answer questions from 46 to 50.
The wastage of food is substantial in every country, but some studies have shown that it is more serious in developing countries. The UNFAO had estimated that one-third of all produced food may be getting wasted. The world produces twice the amount of food that is needed, but large numbers of people are deprived of it due to wastage and other reasons. Food gets wasted at the farm, when it moves to the market and is processed, stored and shifted to shops, and finally in the kitchen. Many fruits and vegetables perish soon after harvesting. There is a need to improve production and storage practices, transport and infrastructure, cold chain systems and processing techniques. Modern technologies and packaging methods are needed. But even in countries where these facilities are available, wastage is high. So, the most important requirement is to improve popular awareness of the need to ensure that food is not wasted in any form, at any stage. China has launched a clean plate campaign against wastage. It is estimated that food worth at least Rs. 1 lakh crore is wasted in India, and this does not include wastage of cooked food. A part of that should be enough to feed the larger numbers of hungry people in the country, which is ranked 94 out of 107 countries in the global hunger index. Food is wasted massively at weddings and on other occasions. The Delhi Government had, in pre-Covid times, thought of restricting the number of guests at weddings to reduce wastage of food. The UN report says that reducing food waste would also cut greenhouse gas emissions and slow the destruction of nature through land conversion and pollution. Avoiding food wastage should therefore become a national mission. It will have very positive environmental, social and economic impacts. In India, it is stated that household food wastage is 50 kg per capita per year, which is less than in countries like the US and China. It is not because of efficient use of food, but because of overall availability of food.
Food wastage also causes:
Answer: D. Environmental pollution — ConceptLiteral-comprehension questions are answered from statements explicitly made in the passage, not from outside assumptions. Identify the asked…
- A.
The rich-poor divide
- B.
Increase in contagious diseases
- C.
Harvest issues
- D.
Environmental pollution
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Concept
Literal-comprehension questions are answered from statements explicitly made in the passage, not from outside assumptions.
Identify the asked relationship, locate the sentence that expresses it, and compare each choice with that textual evidence.
Application
The passage says that reducing food waste would cut greenhouse-gas emissions and slow the destruction of nature through land conversion and pollution. This directly identifies an environmental consequence of food wastage.
Contrast
The rich-poor divide is an economic-inequality idea; the passage instead describes deprivation and hunger as social consequences of wastage.
An increase in contagious diseases would require a link to infection transmission, which the passage does not discuss.
Harvest issues concern the stage at which produce is collected; the passage mentions post-harvest perishability as a source of wastage, not as the additional consequence asked here.
Environmental pollution is tied in the passage to greenhouse-gas emissions, land conversion, and pollution caused by food wastage.
Result
Therefore, the passage supports Environmental pollution.