IELTS Essay: Restaurants & Food Waste

In many countries, people throw away a lot of food from restaurants and shops.

Why do you think people waste food in this way?

What can be done to reduce the amount of food thrown away?

Analysis

1. Food waste is a growing global problem. 2. It happens because people often buy more than they need and the best countermeasure would be to cut down on portion sizes.

1. Paraphrase the overall essay topic.
2. Answer both of the questions directly.

1. Food waste is mainly a result of individuals ordering or purchasing too much food. 2. Many people order extra when dining out to ensure they are not hungry at the end of the meal. 3. Humans are a planning and predicting animal and this is a natural instinct. 4. The same drive partly explains purchasing too much food at the supermarket but there are other possible sources. 5. For example, ambitious shoppers intending to cook a variety of dishes during the week, may buy a lot of healthy fruits and vegetables. 6. If they are busy or cannot summon the initiative, the produce will spoil within a few days and they will have to throw it out and make other plans.

1. Write a clear topic sentence with the main idea at the end.
2. Explain or develop your main idea.
3. Continue to explain and vary your long and short sentences.
4. Keep developing it more deeply.
5. Use examples to support your ideas.
6. Conclude with the fully results of the example.

1. The solution is to reduce the amount of food people eat. 2. A reinforcing cycle of over-eating by obese consumers can lead to greater food waste. 3. People order or buy more than they need and stuff themselves at every meal. 4. Over time, this becomes an ingrained habit and they purchase increasingly greater quantities of food, some of which will naturally go bad or be thrown out if they cannot finish it. 5. A good counter-example to this practice would be in France, which is famed for smaller portion sizes. 6. Food waste is dramatically lower in France simply because people eat modest meals and are therefore more likely to eat all their food. 7. This could be replicated in other nations if governments reformed school meals and took other key steps.

1. Answer the other question directly with a new main idea.
2. Begin your solution.
3. Here I give background for my solution.
4. I give further background here.
5. Here I use an example to show a possible solution.
6. Develop the example.
7. Conclude with a strong statement.

1. In conclusion, food waste has deep psychological roots and the best solution is for individuals to reduce the size of their average meal. 2. A shift like this will require a concerted effort from both ordinary citizens and health officials.

1. Repeat your answers to both questions.
2. Add a final thought