What-如何描述食物浪费现象？
Why-为什么浪费食物？
Effect-浪费食物会带来什么问题？（为什么要节约粮食？）
How-怎么解决食物浪费问题？
一、What-如何描述食物浪费现象？
①Leaving unwanted broccoli on your plate is not just bad manners. ②It is also poor treatment of the planet. ③Perhaps a third of the world’s food—1.3 billion tonnes—is wasted each year. ④Resources used to grow and transport food are squandered when veggies remain uneaten. ⑤Some $750 billion worth of food is thrown away.（The Economist, 2016.8）
在盘子里剩了点西蓝花，这不仅仅是没有礼仪，也是对地球的虐待。每年全世界大约有三分之一的食物（13亿吨）被浪费掉了。如果蔬菜没有吃掉的话，用于种植和运输食物的资源也被浪费了。大约价值7500亿美元的食物被扔掉了。
百分比：1/3的食物都被浪费了——很大的比例；
吨数：13亿吨——相当于中国人每年人均浪费一吨；
资源：当粮食被浪费时，种植粮食时所用的水、化肥，以及运输粮食时所用的汽油、塑料薄膜、制冷剂等，也一起被浪费掉了。
价值：7500亿美元——这不仅仅是“错过了几个亿”了。
He squandered his chances to win.
他白白浪费了获胜的机会。
With millions of households across the country struggling to have enough to eat, and millions of tons of food being tossed in the garbage, food waste is increasingly being seen as a serious environmental and economic issue.（New York Times, 2015.2.25）
全国有数百万家庭吃不饱，与此同时还有数百万吨食物被扔进垃圾箱，食物浪费愈加成为一个严重的环境和经济问题。
millions of households across the country struggling to have enough to eat
millions of tons of food being tossed in the garbage
Billions of tonnes of food are wasted, even as millions of people go hungry.（The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2016）
在数百万人忍饥挨饿之时，数十亿吨粮食被浪费掉了。
While millions of people get used to dumping food, farmers are ploughing the fields under the sun.
当数百万人习惯于浪费食物时，农民正在烈日底下辛苦耕地。
二、Why-为什么浪费食物？
①Arab states waste a lot of food. A study in 2016 by the Economist Intelligence Unit, our sister company, found that Saudi Arabia bins 427kg per person annually, triple the average in Europe and North America. ②Some may chalk this up to traditions of hospitality: even a “light lunch” in Cairo or Beirut leaves guests in a torpor.（The Economist, 2017.5）
阿拉伯国家浪费了很多食物。经济学人的姊妹公司经济学人智库(Economist Intelligence Unit)在2016年做了一项研究，发现沙特阿拉伯每年每人扔427公斤食物，这是欧洲和北美平均水平的三倍。有人可能将此归因于热情好客的传统：在开罗或贝鲁特，即使是一顿“清淡的午餐”也会让客人萎靡不振。
We can chalk that win up to a lot of luck.
我们可以把那次胜利归因于好运十足。
Don't leave the door open.
别让门开着。
Leave me in peace.
别打扰我/别烦我。
Buffets are a major culprit, especially in the Gulf, where hotels and restaurants often serve through the night. A study by researchers at Masdar, a state-owned renewable-energy firm in Abu Dhabi, found that just 53% of food at iftar buffets is eaten.（The Economist, 2017.5）
自助餐是罪魁祸首，尤其在海湾地区，那里的酒店和餐馆经常通宵营业。Masdar是一家位于阿布扎比的可再生能源国有企业，该企业的研究人员发现，在开斋自助餐中，只有53%的食物被吃掉。
Believe it or not, one reason for high amounts of food waste is due to affection. One study showed that preparing and over-serving large portions of food is a way of showing love and affection for friends and family. One of the biggest factors to food waste is that many people simply do not realize how much food they throw away, nor do they realize the environmental impacts of that waste.（RDT Online）
信不信由你，造成食物大量浪费的一个原因就是感情。一项研究表明，准备过多饭菜是一种表达对朋友和家人的喜爱之情的方式。造成食物浪费的最大因素之一就是，许多人根本没有意识到他们扔掉了多少食物，也没有意识到这些浪费对环境的影响。
三、Effect-浪费食物会带来什么问题？
气候、环境
经济
人口
Most food waste is thrown away in landfills, where it decomposes and emits methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Globally, it creates 3.3 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases annually, about 7 percent of the total emissions.（New York Times, 2015.2.25）
大多数食物垃圾都被扔进了垃圾填埋场，然后分解并释放出甲烷——一种强效温室气体。在全球范围内，食物垃圾每年产生33亿吨的温室气体，约占总排放量的7%。
The report estimates that / a third of all the food produced in the world / is never consumed, and the total cost of that food waste / could be as high as $400 billion a year. Reducing food waste from 20 to 50 percent globally / could save $120 billion to $300 billion a year / by 2030.（New York Times, 2015.2.25）
该报告估计，全球有三分之一的食物没有被吃掉，而这些浪费掉的食物每年带来多达4000亿美元的成本。如果能把全球食物浪费减少20-50%，那到2030年为止，每年可以节省1200亿-3000亿美元。
The less the world wastes, the easier it will be to meet the food needs of the global population in coming years. Second, cutting back on waste could go a long way to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.（New York Times, 2017.12）
全球浪费的越少，越容易满足未来几年全球人口的粮食需求；第二，减少浪费对减少温室气体排放大有裨益。
The new law goes a long way towards solving the problem.
新的法律十分有助于解决这一问题。
四、how-怎么做
The most obvious way forward would be for them to eat all the foodstuffs they buy and cook. The use of smaller plates can actually encourage such behaviour. Lawmakers can help too: earlier this month Italy passed a new law to make it easier for supermarkets to donate unwanted items.（The Economist, 2016.8）
最显而易见的办法是让这些人买多少吃多少、做多少吃多少。使用小盘子实际上可以鼓励这一行为。立法者也能发挥作用：本月早些时候，意大利通过了一项新法律，能够让超市更加便利地捐赠多余物品。
The president's advisors are trying to find a way out of the crisis.
总统顾问正设法寻找解决危机的办法。（a way out of the crisis = a way to deal with the crisis 解决危机的办法）
At first there seemed to be no way out of her difficulties.
起初，好像没有什么办法能使她摆脱困境。（a way out of her difficulties = a way to deal with her difficulties 解决困难的办法）
“Awareness of food waste has risen, but we need to do more to tie that awareness to actions on the ground,” he said. “We need to find better ways to deal with food waste, but we need to prevent it in the first place.”（New York Times, 2015.2.25）
他说：“人们对食物浪费的意识有所提高，但我们需要做更多的工作，把这种意识与实际行动联系起来。我们需要找到更好的方法来解决食物浪费，但我们首先需要预防。”
People's awareness should be raised 应该提高人们意识
tie that awareness to actions on the ground 应把意识和实际行动联系起来
we need to prevent it in the first place 预防为先
表示“食物浪费”的词语：
leaving unwanted broccoli on your plate
veggies remain uneaten
waste / squander / throw away / toss / discard / dump food
描述食物浪费现象：
作文开头句：With XX, YY is increasingly being seen as a serious issue / top concern.
对比手法：While millions of people get used to dumping food, farmers are ploughing the fields under the sun.
Billions of tonnes of food are wasted, even as millions of people go hungry.
分析食物浪费的原因：
语言表达：chalk this up to...、a major culprit
内容观点：traditions of hospitality、buffets、love and affection、awareness
为什么要节约粮食？
greenhouse gas emissions
the total cost of food waste could be...
meet the food needs of the global population in coming years
如何减少食物浪费？
句型：The most obvious way forward would be XX. Lawmakers / Policy-makers can help, too: YY.
a way out / forward 替换measure, way, approach
内容：People's awareness
tie that awareness to actions on the ground
prevent it in the first place 预防为先
吐血整理，希望能帮到大家，感谢阅读！
推荐阅读
热门写作话题之「线上教育」丨经济学人精读
美国大选终场辩论丨经济学人精读
如何通过阅读外刊练习英文写作(3)
如何通过阅读外刊练习英文写作(2)
如何通过阅读外刊练习英文写作(1)