📘 Part 3: Growing plants

This episode's vocabulary

Green Revolution (noun) - the big increase in the production of crops during the 1960s and 1970s because of the use of modern methods.

Advent (noun) - the fact of an event happening, an invention being made, or a person arriving.

Plot (noun) - a small piece of land that has been marked or measured for a particular purpose.

To speculate (verb) - to guess possible answers to a question when you do not have enough information to be certain.

To nourish (verb) - to provide people or living things with food in order to make them grow and keep them healthy.

Fertilizer (noun) - a natural or chemical substance that is spread on the land or given to plants, to make plants grow well.

Paraphernalia (noun) - all the objects needed for or connected with a particular activity.

Allotment (noun) - a small piece of ground in or just outside a town that a person rents for growing vegetables, fruits, or flowers.

To democratize (verb) - to make countries or organizations use democratic ways of making decisions.

Procedure (noun) - a set of actions that is the official or accepted way of doing something.

Gist (noun) - the most important pieces of information about something, or general information without details.

Rural (adj.) - in, of, or like the countryside.

Labour (noun) - practical work, especially when it involves hard physical effort.

Oversight (noun) - systems or actions to control an activity and make sure that it is done correctly and legally.

Population basis (noun) - the number of people living in an area.

Mass (adj.) - having an effect on or involving a large number of people or forming a large amount.

Malnourished (adj.) - weak and in bad health because of having too little food or too little of the types of food necessary for good health.

Governance (noun) - the way that organizations or countries are managed at the highest level, and the systems for doing this.

To curb (verb) - to control or limit something that is not wanted.

To leap (verb) - to make a large jump or sudden movement, usually from one place to another.

Crop (noun) - the total amount collected of) a plant such as a grain, fruit, or vegetable grown in large amounts.

Yield (noun) - an amount of something positive, such as food or profit, that is produced or supplied.

Genetic modification(noun) - the process of changing the structure of the genes of a living thing in order to make it healthier, stronger, or more useful to humans.

Hardy (adj.) - hardy plants can live through the winter without protection from the weather.

Livestock (noun) - animals and birds that are kept on a farm, such as cows, sheep, or chickens.

Disempowered (adj.) - having no control over your life and no power to change things.

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Questions and Answers

M: Are there many people growing their own vegetables now?

R: Well, the population has increased. So it would be easy to say so. However, I think the proportion of people doing so is probably lower than ever due to the Green Revolution and the advent of all the massive agricultural developments we've had. People also have less time to maintain plots of land, now that I think about it.

M: How do people feel when they eat the vegetables they grow themselves?

R: Having never done it, I wouldn't know for certain, but I would speculate they feel a sense of accomplishment for having done it themselves. Though they might not feel as nourished as they likely don't have the access to the fertilizers or the other paraphernalia you need to produce food that's maximally beneficial.

M: Do people like to grow vegetables in your country?

R: I couldn't even begin to say with any certainty. However, given the current economic climate with increasing inflation and a lack of resources and time, people might like it, though, they're unlikely to have the chance to do it at the moment.

M: Why not at the moment?

R: Well, because they don't have access to the things they need in order to be able to do that. Maintaining vegetable allotments, or any kind of garden takes a lot of time and resources and people need money now.

M: Do you think it's good to let children learn how to plant?

R: We should definitely have an understanding of where our food comes from and the processes that allow life to be sustained on the planet and how agriculture works as part of that. I suppose it could help democratize information and keep people safe. The shape that education would take will likely vary from country to country since the agricultural processes and procedures will be different, but the gist of it is the same. It would be a good idea for sure.

M: What do people think of the job of a farmer?

R: They don't seem to feature a great deal in non-rural areas and settings. So they're likely to be relatively unthought of, probably. That being said, farmers are a very small part of the population. So it's easy to see why that might be the case.

M: What are the differences between traditional and modern agriculture?

R: That will depend where you draw the line between the two on the timeline, frankly, but let's say it's where technology starts to play a bigger role compared to biological labour. That would mean that there are significant differences in the use of animals, farm hunts, manufactured fertilizers and legal oversight, the list is pretty much endless.

M: Is farming important?

R: If you want to live then yes, I would say so. We couldn't sustain the population bases most countries have without some sort of mass agriculture. People would starve to death, or they'd be malnourished in all kinds of ways and likely die of diseases our modern biology isn't adapted to cope with.

M: Is climate change influencing food production in any way?

R: Well, it's certainly influencing the governance of food production. There are widespread farm protests in the Netherlands over the restrictions being placed on farmers there, due to the government trying to cut down on methane emissions. That in turn will curb food production if farms shut down.

M: How will technological and scientific improvements affect food production?

R: I couldn't say about the future since I don't know the latest developments, though if past leaps in knowledge and technology or anything to go by, we'll likely see an increase in crop yields. Since that's what past improvements have provided. Genetic modification is also likely to allow us to engineer hardier crops and livestock too.

M: And do you think more people will grow their own vegetables in the future?

R: I don't know. If the current trend of people being disempowered and moving to cities continues then no. No, they won't, sorry. I want to end on a positive note. But that's really sad.

M: Yay...

R: Yay, we're losing control of our lives. Fantastic.

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Discussion

M: Really? You think like, people won't grow their own stuff? I have noticed, like, people have actually started growing stuff for themselves. Even, you know, at home, they grow these little, you know, spices. Kind of like on a small scale, you know.

R: So maybe like micro agriculture will become more popular, but that's not really sustainable for an entire household, is it? And also the inward migration to cities. I don't know if it's stalled or if it's continuing but regardless, that will mean that people have less space to grow their own food.

M: Yeah, yeah, but what about this roof thing? Because...

R: How many people live in your apartment building?

M: No, no, it doesn't work in Russia.

R: Yes, it does. Well, look, let's take an old Russian example. Let's say there's like 1000 people in a skyscraper in New York, right? That's not much space for everybody to grow their own stuff. Like the Israelis do really cool stuff with hydroponics. But that's not... That's not enough. That's one country in a very, very unique situation.

M: Oh, interesting. I thought, actually, more people are growing their own stuff.

R: You have too much hope. And I've just snuffed it out.

M: But, dear listener, think about your country. Think about what you know about this. If you don't know anything, it's a good idea to go to read some articles, google it. And then to have a rough idea what's going on in terms of agriculture, because unfortunately, farming, agriculture, growing things could be the topics in IELTS speaking part three. Yeah, I know, I know. Crazy. So, Rory said that with the advent of massive agricultural developments. The advent is a nice word, which means the invention of massive agricultural developments.

R: But that's not really saying much, is it? That's like saying, we have more fertilizers, there are bigger farms, processes are more streamlined, we use fertilizers... Like chemicals, sorry, manufactured fertilizers, not just natural ones.

M: What did you mean by the Green Revolution?

R: The Green Revolution is like a period. I think it's in the 1960s or 1950s, when all of these developments and fertilizers were made and crop yields exploded and it stopped billions of people from starving to death.

M: Okay, okay. And people used to maintain plots of lands. Of land. Yeah. So maintain plots of land. People used to work the land, but, well, now people live in cities. A very good strategy is to use perfect... What do you call it? Infinitive? Perfect phrase. For example...

R: You don't even know what this phrase is.

M: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know it's perfect. So the examiner asks you, how do people feel when they eat the vegetables they grow themselves? And you say, having never done that, I wouldn't know for certain. So like, I've never done it, so I don't know is a simple way of saying that. But, oh, it's a participle. There we go. Perfect participle. Having never done it, I wouldn't know for certain. Yay. But people might feel a sense of accomplishment. So they've achieved something. So they might feel a sense of accomplishment for having done it. Again, perfect, because they've done it already.

R: You could apply that to anything.

M: For example, like, Rory, let's talk about space. Would you like to be a cosmonaut? Astronaut?

R: Having never thought about it, I couldn't say for sure.

M: Oh, nice. Okay. Do you think we should ban advertisements aimed at children?

R: Having never been a child, I couldn't say for sure. No. Well, I won't be using a perfect one. But I could use a continuous one.

M: No, it's too difficult, come on, come on.

R: No, like not being a parent, I wouldn't know. Like I don't know how badly it affects people in their homes.

M: Hmm, yeah. Not being a parent. Okay.

R: But that's not perfect. That's just continues. Having never been a parent.

M: Yeah. A nice one, dear listener. Another strategy, hey, hey. And then Rory said this P word.

R: P word... Paraphernalia. Just instead of stuff say paraphernalia. That's all.

M: What is this? Does anybody use this word? Like is it used?

R: I do.

M: Really? How formal is it?

R: Paraphernalia is just stuff. It's extremely formal, but it's also a fun word to say. It's like "boulangerie".

M: Oh, "boulangerie". "Boulangerie" is a place where you get your bread. France, Paris, so you go for your "croissant", and "la baguette" to "boulangerie". Oh, yum, yum, yum. Paris... Delicious times. Can you use it in another sentence?

R: Paraphernalia?

M: Yes.

R: Sure. Many times people have been arrested because they're carrying drug paraphernalia. That just means the things that you need to take drugs.

M: Oh, wow.

R: Or to make drugs...

M: Okay. Interesting. Yeah. And then you can also mention fertilizers. Right? So fertilizers, they use on different plants to help them grow faster. Yeah?

R: I don't know if fertilizers help plants grow faster, I think they increase the yield of the plant. I have to check that.

M: Yeah. And fertilizers could be natural fertilizers or chemical fertilizers, right? So could be like, good and bad? Or bad.

R: Hey! Chemical fertilizers aren't all bad.

M: Really? Chemical...

R: Just because something is manufactured by people doesn't make it evil.

M: Yeah. But it's kind of the word chemical, you know, it doesn't sound natural. Sounds artificial.

R: Yeah, but everything's made of chemicals. Everything's made of chemicals. That makes me very sad.

M: There you go. So we say grow vegetables, grow fruits, grow things. And Rory said, about a lack of resources. So people don't have enough resources. That's why they don't grow vegetables in Scotland, in his country. Resources also, like money, time.

R: I don't know if people have the resources in general, to be honest with you. I don't know much about farming. But I think that it's a lot more difficult to grow your own food than many people realize.

M: As for children Rory said that we should definitely have an understanding of where our food comes from. So kind of like children should understand where our food comes from. And processes that allow life to be sustained. So if we sustain life, we kind of continue life, maintain life. And we should educate children on agricultural processes and procedures. Right? So how agriculture works for them to know what's going on. The questions could be about farming and like a job of a farmer. And Rory said that, well, they don't seem to feature a great deal. So there aren't many farmers these days, yeah?

R: No, there aren't. There are almost none. It's only, I think only 1% of the human population is employed in agriculture, something really tiny green, it's not many people.

M: Oh, wow. Well, maybe in Scotland. No, but there are some rural countries. So like rural areas, where agriculture is developed, and non-rural areas. So cities. Yeah, dear listener, you see, you can say that, well, people don't have any thoughts about the job of a farmer or some people think it's difficult. It's difficult to work on the farm. You have to be physically strong. And manual labour is hard, especially in autumns, in winters. Traditional and modern agriculture. Yeah, dear listener, also, agriculture could come in an essay, in an IELTS essay as one of the topics, unfortunately. Yeah... And then here, Rory says, it's where technology starts to play a bigger role. Right?

R: I didn't say it's when, I said if we, like, if we say that's when things become modern. Because that question is insane. Like, how do you draw the line between traditional and modern agriculture? Is it agriculture in the year 1900 onwards?

M: I think so. Kind of traditional without technology, perhaps, without these chemical fertilizers.

R: But all, all farming has involved the application of technology to some degree.

M: And when you said biological labour, what did you mean? Like manual labour?

R: Just living things doing work. So like oxen pulling the ploughs or horses pulling the ploughs or people pulling the ploughs, people doing most of the work on the farm as opposed to machines.

M: Yeah. So you can mention like the use of animals, manual labour, versus manufactured fertilizers, the use of heavy machinery, right? On the farms. Specialized equipment. Or, dear listener, to be honest with you, you can say, I've got absolutely no idea. It's so hard to draw the line between traditional and modern agriculture.

R: Well, they do have an idea now, because we've just explained them one way that you could draw it, but you should ask like and say like, I don't know what that means. What do you mean by traditional? Tell me, examiner. I demand to know.

M: Stupid question. Yeah, but you see, dear listener, to give like a thorough answer and like a direct answer, you should know the difference. And if you're not satisfied with Rory's answer, you can just google it. Okay?

R: But you should be satisfied with my answer because we used google a lot.

M: Yeah, I think it's okay. Yeah. And then you add, the list is endless. The list of differences is endless.

R: Well, it is, if you think about like a farm 10,000 years ago, compared to a farm now. Like, we're always talking about two totally different things.

M: Is farming important? Well, of course, it is. We couldn't sustain the population without it. So sustain life on the planet, sustain the population. So keep it living. Mass agriculture is important. Yeah?

R: Yes. Because if something is mass, like mass agriculture, mass culture, mass whatever, it just means it's consumed by a large number of people.

M: And then a more ridiculous question about climate change. Is climate change influencing food production? Oh, gosh. Yeah, this is a really tough one. Yeah? And then Rory said yes, it's influencing the governance of food production.

R: But that just means how food production is controlled.

M: And if we cut down on something, we reduce it. So cut down on some emissions, for example. And if we curb food production, we stop it, yeah?

R: I don't think we'd stop it. It can mean to stop it. Or it just means to reduce

M: Reduce. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So curb food production - reduce food production. And if you're not sure, you can always apply this technique. I couldn't say about the future. Since I don't know the latest developments. The latest - like the newest developments.

R: The latest developments in agriculture... What are the latest developments in agriculture? Giant cows with 15 udders, they're the size of skyscrapers. Who knows?

M: Yeah, I think like chemical fertilizers and stuff they put on plants. So maybe genetically modified products as well?

R: Yeah.

M: And then genetic modification you can mention, yeah.

R: But whatever you do, if you're talking about farming or growing things, you have to talk about crops, which are plants grown for consumption, and livestock, which are animals that are used for, well, agriculture.

M: Right. How are you doing, dear listener? Yeah, a horrible topic. So hopefully now you do know some, you know, basic words, and the P word that I can't pronounce. But Rory says it's easy. Yeah...

R: Paraphernalia.

M: Oh, my God. So I would recommend reading a couple of things about traditional agriculture, modern agriculture, and the recent trends in farming, just to be confident, right? And to understand what's going on, because if you have no idea, then yeah, answering those questions might be really difficult. So, unfortunately, you should do a little bit more homework here. Just to be on the ball, okay? To just ace this topic of fricking growing agriculture thing. And also it will help your essay because the essay could be about agriculture. Okay? Thank you very much for listening! We hope you'll never get this agriculture topic.

R: But if you do, we've hopefully helped you grow your own answers. It's a dad joke to finish on.

M: Bye!

R: Bye!

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