Food Waste in the Netherlands

Uneaten bread, yellowed vegetables, overcooked rice or noodles are all thrown away by the Dutch, which is a problem in the Netherlands. In 2010, each person there threw away about 48 kilograms of food per year, 【小题1】 with 41 kilograms in 2016, a slight improvement.

A food industry expert says the problem in the Netherlands is that everyday food is so cheap that people 【小题2】 have no idea. But don’t forget that a family throws away 50 Euros worth of food every month, that is, 600 Euros a year, and that adds up to a lot of money, doesn’t it? He offers a number of tips on how to deal with 【小题3】 food waste. For example, take your shopping list to the supermarket so you can cut down unnecessary food 【小题4】. As far as cooking is concerned, do as much as you can eat. “So if you’re measuring for four people, don’t take it for granted, but use a measuring cup to measure it 【小题5】,” he said. “We waste a lot of rice and cooked pasta. Turn the refrigerator to 4 degrees instead of 6 or 7 degrees. So you can keep the food longer. If you have a lot left-over after dinner, you can 【小题6】 it and just put it in the microwave one day a week. It’s easy and it saves money.”

In recent years, the Netherlands has taken many measures to deal with food waste. For example, since its launch in January 2018, it has used an APP called Too Good to Go, which allows hotels, supermarkets and bakeries to 【小题7】 how much food they have left each day, and nearby consumers can use the APP to find out where they can pay a small amount of money for the leftover food. The Grand, a five-star hotel in Amsterdam, is also 【小题8】. “In the past, we threw out all the cheese, sandwiches, meat and other products from the breakfast buffet (自助餐), and it was a 【小题9】 waste,” said a staff member, “Now we don’t waste so much, so this application is really a good 【小题10】.” The idea for the APP came from Denmark, and the application is now up and running in nine countries.

All of us rely on what we see. We say to ourselves, "I know, I was there; I saw it happen,"   and that settle the matter. Or does it? Can we really trust the【小题1】 of our eyes?

Take competitive sports. Fans who see the same game will not agree with each other and will disagree with the referee. “He was out of bounds when he caught the pass” says one fan. Says another, “You're crazy. I saw it with my own eyes. He was five feet in bounds. You must be blind.” The referee【小题2】 that the receiver did step out of bounds. But thousands of fans are still not【小题3】 because they were there!

It's the same story in the court-room. Trial 【小题4】 depends on witnesses giving testimony (证 词). But just now reliable is the testimony of a person who reports what he has seen? In a recent study, ten thousand【小题5】 were asked to describe the man they saw 【小题6】 a crime. The study reveals that, on the average, the witnesses didn’t play 【小题7】 on them!

What can we do to keep error to【小题8】? First of all, don't let your emotions interfere with your vision. Don't see something because you want to see it. Secondly, try to stay relaxed. If you are【小题9】 you are likely to see red when the color is blue. And finally, it helps to make notes of what you see. Don't rely on your memory alone. Take pictures, make recordings, and use any other【小题10】 to reduce distortion (歪曲).

As tourism develops, people are becoming increasingly concerned about the environment. Here in our city, there is a heated discussion about whether a hotel should be built at White Beach. The owner of the company thinks the hotel would attract more tourists, which will 【小题1】 and 【小题2】. However, the local people worry that building the hotel is 【小题3】 and will 【小题4】, in particular the turtles which lay their eggs on White Beach. But they also admit that building the hotel will 【小题5】 for people living in the area. Even though the owner of the company guarantees that the design will be in harmony with its beautiful surroundings, the local people are still concerned that the hotel may 【小题6】. Increased tourist numbers will also mean more cars and aeroplanes, which in turn means 【小题7】.