Breaking News English Lesson: Vegetable Shortages

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British supermarkets ration fruit and vegetables (6th March 2023)

The Reading / Listening - Vegetable Shortages - Level 6

Shoppers in the United Kingdom (U.K.) are having to hunt around to find supplies of fruit and vegetables. Britain's major supermarkets are rationing produce like cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes amid shortages from suppliers. The big chains have cited various reasons for the shortfall in supply that has left shelves bare in green-grocery aisles. Britain's biggest supermarket chain, Tesco, has limited purchases of certain vegetables to three per customer. Tesco attributed its shortages to adverse weather overseas. In particular, it said a drought in Morocco had led to poor yields. Tesco assured customers it was working day and night to "get things back to normal".

Other factors are being blamed for the rationing. Britain's farmers' union said higher energy costs meant it was no longer financially viable for many growers to operate. It also said a tomato disease has wiped out a lot of crops across northern Europe. Industry analyst James Walton said Brexit has played a part in distribution problems. He said: "The EU accounts for much of the UK's import volume. If there are shortfalls in production in the EU, then it makes sense for EU producers to serve their local demand first. This leaves less available for export to the U.K." Many shoppers are perplexed at seeing photos on social media of supermarket shelves across Europe, and in war-torn Ukraine, laden with fresh produce.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Vegetable Shortages - Level 4 or Vegetable Shortages - Level 5

Sources

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/28/british-supermarkets-are-rationing-fruit-and-vegetables-amid-shortages.html
https://thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-business/ap-uk-is-grappling-with-vegetable-shortages-how-did-it-happen/
https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20230227-as-uk-supermarkets-ration-fruits-and-vegetables-many-blame-brexit-for-shortages

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Warm-ups

1. VEGETABLES: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about vegetables. Change partners often and share your findings.
2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life?
shoppers / hunt around / fruit / vegetables / shortages / cucumbers / supermarket /
rationing / energy costs / crops / Brexit / imports / exports / perplexed / war-torn
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. GROW YOUR OWN: Students A strongly believe we should all grow our own vegetables; Students B strongly believe the opposite. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. RATIONING: How would life change if these things were rationed? How would you feel? What would you do? Why? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	Life changes	Feelings	What I'd Do
Tomatoes
Gasoline
Chocolate
Internet time
Water
Electricity

MY e-BOOK

ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers

See a sample

5. TOMATO: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "tomato". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. FRUIT: Rank these with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

Tomatoes
Bananas
Kiwis
Apples
Lemons
Pineapples
Cherries
Plums

Vocabulary

Paragraph 1

1.	rationing	a.	A situation of allow each person to have only a fixed amount of something (due to shortages because of war of disasters, etc.).
2.	amid	b.	A prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall, leading to a shortage of water.
3.	cited	c.	In an atmosphere or against a background of.
4.	aisle	d.	Preventing success or development; harmful; unfavourable.
5.	adverse	e.	Mentioned as an example of something.
6.	drought	f.	A passage between cabinets and shelves of goods in a supermarket, or in a church or theatre, an aircraft, or train.
7.	yield	g.	An amount produced of an agricultural or industrial product.

Paragraph 2

8.	viable	h.	Completely baffled; very puzzled.
9.	wiped out	i.	An amount or quantity of something, especially when great.
10.	crops	j.	Capable of working successfully.
11.	volume	k.	Of a place devastated by battles and conflict.
12.	perplexed	l.	Eliminated something completely.
13.	war-torn	m.	Heavily loaded.
14.	laden	n.	Cultivated plants that are grown on a large scale commercially, especially a cereal, fruit, or vegetable.

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

Shoppers in the U.K. are hunting in forests for vegetables. T / F
There is a shortage of peppers in the United Kingdom. T / F
A UK supermarket is limiting the number of veggies customers can buy. T / F
The supermarket said a drought in Morocco caused shortages. T / F
Energy companies are blaming UK farmers for vegetable shortages. T / F
U.K. farmers are making big profits despite the vegetable shortages. T / F
The EU said it would supply the UK with whatever vegetables it needs. T / F
The article says Ukraine has more vegetables in shops than the UK does. T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

shoppers
rationing
produce
cited
yields
blamed
viable
volume
perplexed
laden

puzzled
mentioned
held responsible
limiting
full
foodstuff
amount
consumers
harvests
feasible

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

hunt around to find
limited purchases of certain vegetables to
Tesco attributed its shortages to adverse
a drought in Morocco had led
get things
Other factors are being
it was no longer financially
a tomato disease has wiped
This leaves less available
in war-

three per customer
back to normal
for export to the U.K.
supplies of fruit
torn Ukraine
out a lot of crops
blamed for the rationing
to poor yields
viable
weather overseas

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

shortages
bare
produce
yields
hunt
drought
certain
cited

Shoppers in the United Kingdom (U.K.) are having to (1) _____________________ around to find supplies of fruit and vegetables. Britain's major supermarkets are rationing (2) _____________________ like cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes amid shortages from suppliers. The big chains have (3) _____________________ various reasons for the shortfall in supply that has left shelves (4) _____________________ in green-grocery aisles. Britain's biggest supermarket chain, Tesco, has limited purchases of (5) _____________________ vegetables to three per customer. Tesco attributed its (6) _____________________ to adverse weather overseas. In particular, it said a (7) _____________________ in Morocco had led to poor (8) _____________________. Tesco assured customers it was working day and night to "get things back to normal".

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

wiped
laden
sense
distribution
perplexed
factors
viable
volume

Other (9) _____________________ are being blamed for the rationing. Britain's farmers' union said higher energy costs meant it was no longer financially (10) _____________________ for many growers to operate. It also said a tomato disease has (11) _____________________ out a lot of crops across northern Europe. Industry analyst James Walton said Brexit has played a part in (12) _____________________ problems. He said: "The EU accounts for much of the UK's import (13) _____________________. If there are shortfalls in production in the EU, then it makes (14) _____________________ for EU producers to serve their local demand first. This leaves less available for export to the U.K." Many shoppers are (15) _____________________ at seeing photos on social media of supermarket shelves across Europe, and in war-torn Ukraine, (16) _____________________ with fresh produce.

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1) Shoppers in the United Kingdom (U.K.) are having to hunt around ______
     a. to fund supplies
     b. to found supplies
     c. to find supplies
     d. to fend supplies
2) supermarkets are rationing produce like cucumbers, peppers and ______
     a. tomatoes and shortages
     b. tomatoes armed shortages
     c. tomatoes aim mid-shortages
     d. tomatoes amid shortages
3) various reasons for the shortfall in supply that has left shelves bare ______
     a. in green-grocery aisles
     b. in green-grocery ails
     c. in green-grocery ills
     d. in green-grocery eels
4) In particular, it said a drought in Morocco had led ______
     a. too poor yields
     b. to poor yields
     c. to pour wields
   d. to pour fields
5) Tesco assured customers it was working day and night to "get things ______"
     a. back too norm all
     b. back tomb mall
     c. back to nor mall
     d. back to normal

6) Other factors are being blamed ______
     a. for the ration in
     b. for the rationing
     c. for the rasher in
     d. for the rash shunning
7) Britain's farmers' union said higher energy costs meant it was no ______
     a. lengthen financially viable
     b. longing financially viable
     c. longer financially viable
     d. larger financially viable
8) He said: "The EU accounts for much of the ______
     a. UK's import valium
     b. UK's in-port volume
     c. UK's imp-port volume
     d. UK's import volume
9) it makes sense for EU producers to serve their ______
     a. local demand first
     b. locals demand first
     c. locally demand first
     d. locale demand first
10) photos on social media of supermarket shelves across Europe, and ______
     a. in war-tarn Ukraine
     b. in war-tern Ukraine
     c. in war-turn Ukraine
     d. in war-torn Ukraine

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Shoppers in the United Kingdom (U.K.) are (1) ____________________ around to find supplies of fruit and vegetables. Britain's major supermarkets are rationing produce like cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes (2) ____________________ suppliers. The big chains have cited various reasons for the shortfall in supply that has (3) ____________________ in green-grocery aisles. Britain's biggest supermarket chain, Tesco, has limited (4) ____________________ vegetables to three per customer. Tesco attributed its (5) ____________________ weather overseas. In particular, it said a drought in Morocco had led (6) ____________________. Tesco assured customers it was working day and night to "get things back to normal".

Other factors are (7) ____________________ the rationing. Britain's farmers' union said higher energy costs meant it was no longer financially (8) ____________________ growers to operate. It also said a tomato disease has wiped out a lot (9) ____________________ northern Europe. Industry analyst James Walton said Brexit has played a part in distribution problems. He said: "The EU (10) ____________________ of the UK's import volume. If there are shortfalls in production in the EU, then it makes sense for EU producers to serve their local demand first. This (11) ____________________ for export to the U.K." Many shoppers are perplexed at seeing photos on social media of supermarket shelves across Europe, (12) ____________________ Ukraine, laden with fresh produce.

Comprehension questions

What three fruit and vegetables are in short supply in the UK?
What does the article say has been left bare?
How many vegetables has a supermarket limited customers to?
What happened in Morocco that affected supplies?
When is a supermarket working to get things back to normal?
Who mentioned higher energy costs?
What wiped out crops across northern Europe?
What is James Waltons' job?
What accounts for a lot of the UK's imports of fruit and vegetables?
Where, besides Europe, are there shelves laden with fresh produce?

Multiple choice quiz

1) What three fruit and vegetables are in short supply in the UK?
a) tomatoes, lettuce and cabbage
b) broccoli, beans and peppers
c) cucumbers, cress and courgettes
d) tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers
2) What does the article say has been left bare?
a) food cupboards
b) supermarket shelves
c) fridges
d) farm fields
3) How many vegetables has a supermarket limited customers to?
a) six
b) two
c) three
d) four
4) What happened in Morocco that affected supplies?
a) a drought
b) a storm
c) an oil shortage
d) a seed shortage
5) When is a supermarket working to get things back to normal?
a) 24/7
b) weekends
c) day and night
d) 9 to 5

6) Who mentioned higher energy costs?
a) a power company
b) a farmers' union
c) a journalist
d) a supermarket boss
7) What wiped out crops across northern Europe?
a) a pest
b) bad weather
c) frost
d) a tomato disease
8) What is James Waltons' job?
a) an industry analyst
b) a farmer
c) an energy company CEO
d) a journalist
9) What accounts for a lot of the UK's imports of fruit and vegetables?
a) Australia
b) Morocco
c) the EU
d) Ireland
10) Where, besides Europe, are there shelves laden with fresh produce?
a) Mongolia
b) war-torn Ukraine
c) Argentina
d) Vanuatu

Role play

Role A – Tomatoes
You think tomatoes are the best fruit. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their fruit. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): apples, bananas or lemons.

Role B – Apples
You think apples are the best fruit. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their fruit. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): tomatoes, bananas or lemons.

Role C – Bananas
You think bananas are the best fruit. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their fruit. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): apples, tomatoes or lemons.

Role D – Lemons
You think lemons are the best fruit. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their fruit. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): apples, bananas or tomatoes.

After reading / listening

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words...

'supermarket'

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

and 'ration'.
________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

• Share your findings with your partners.

• Make questions using the words you found.

• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

•Share your questions with other classmates / groups. •Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

hunt

amid

cited

certain

poor

night

energy

wiped

part

sense

less

fresh

Student survey

Write five GOOD questions about this topic in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

(Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

Discussion - Vegetable Shortages

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

What did you think when you read the headline?
What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'supermarket'?
What do you think of supermarkets?
What do you think of the quality of supermarket vegetables?
Have you ever experienced food rationing?
What do you think of the rationing in the UK?
How would you feel if supermarket shelves were bare?
What do you like about your favourite supermarket?
What challenges do farmers face?
What advice do you have for shoppers in the UK?

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
What do you think of when you hear the word 'ration'?
What do you think about what you read?
Would you like to be a farmer?
Should we all grow our own vegetables?
What are your favourite fruit and vegetables?
Do you think the UK's Brexit was a good idea?
When was the last time you were perplexed?
Why does war-torn Ukraine have vegetables but Britain doesn't?
What questions would you like to ask the supermarket bosses?

Discussion — Write your own questions

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

(a) ________________

(b) ________________

(c) ________________

(d) ________________

(e) ________________

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

(f) ________________

(g) ________________

(h) ________________

(i) ________________

(j) ________________

Language — Cloze (Gap-fill)

Shoppers in the United Kingdom (U.K.) are having to hunt (1) ____ to find supplies of fruit and vegetables. Britain's major supermarkets are (2) ____ produce like cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes amid shortages from suppliers. The big chains have (3) ____ various reasons for the shortfall in supply that has left shelves bare in green-grocery (4) ____. Britain's biggest supermarket chain, Tesco, has limited purchases of certain vegetables to three (5) ____ customer. Tesco attributed its shortages to adverse weather overseas. In particular, it said a drought in Morocco had led to poor (6) ____. Tesco assured customers it was working day and night to "get things back to normal".

Other factors are being blamed (7) ____ the rationing. Britain's farmers' union said higher energy costs meant it was no longer financially (8) ____ for many growers to operate. It also said a tomato disease has wiped out a lot of crops across northern Europe. Industry analyst James Walton said Brexit has played a (9) ____ in distribution problems. He said: "The EU accounts for much of the UK's import volume. If there are shortfalls (10) ____ production in the EU, then it makes sense for EU producers to serve their local demand first. This leaves (11) ____ available for export to the U.K." Many shoppers are perplexed at seeing photos on social media of supermarket shelves across Europe, and in war-(12) ____ Ukraine, laden with fresh produce.

Which of these words go in the above text?

(a) through (b) around (c) over (d) about
(a) rational (b) rationing (c) rations (d) rationed
(a) slighted (b) sighted (c) sated (d) cited
(a) ills (b) aisles (c) axles (d) ails
(a) each (b) of (c) for (d) per
(a) crop (b) harvest (c) yields (d) seed
(a) for (b) of (c) from (d) at
(a) viewable (b) foible (c) viable (d) fallible
(a) player (b) blinder (c) bit (d) part
(a) in (b) on (c) up (d) of
(a) less (b) lots (c) least (d) lest
(a) torn (b) tear (c) tearing (d) tore

Spelling

Paragraph 1

hunt around to find upsilpes
amid rosthgaes from suppliers
shelves bare in green-grocery ealssi
veseadr weather overseas
a uhtdogr in Morocco had led to poor yields
Tesco resudas customers it was working

Paragraph 2

it was no longer financially bveila
Industry anylsta
iustridiotbn problems
there are shtrafsllo in production
Many shoppers are eplrexped
war-torn Ukraine endla with fresh produce

Put the text back together

(...) costs meant it was no longer financially viable for many growers to operate. It also said a tomato disease has wiped
(...) to adverse weather overseas. In particular, it said a drought in Morocco had led to poor
(...) chain, Tesco, has limited purchases of certain vegetables to three per customer. Tesco attributed its shortages
(...) of fruit and vegetables. Britain's major supermarkets are rationing produce like cucumbers,
(...) Other factors are being blamed for the rationing. Britain's farmers' union said higher energy
(...) volume. If there are shortfalls in production in the EU, then it makes sense for EU producers to serve their local
(...) for the shortfall in supply that has left shelves bare in green-grocery aisles. Britain's biggest supermarket
(...) peppers and tomatoes amid shortages from suppliers. The big chains have cited various reasons
(...) in distribution problems. He said: "The EU accounts for much of the UK's import
( 1 ) Shoppers in the United Kingdom (U.K.) are having to hunt around to find supplies
(...) out a lot of crops across northern Europe. Industry analyst James Walton said Brexit has played a part
(...) yields. Tesco assured customers it was working day and night to "get things back to normal".
(...) on social media of supermarket shelves across Europe, and in war-torn Ukraine, laden with fresh produce.
(...) demand first. This leaves less available for export to the U.K." Many shoppers are perplexed at seeing photos

Put the words in the right order

produce supermarkets cucumbers . major are rationing like Britain's
that left in bare . shelves supply shortfall The
weather its attributed shortages Tesco adverse overseas . to
Morocco led drought poor to yields . A in
day to and get Working night things back .
blamed rationing . Other factors are for the being
no many for It's financially longer viable growers .
disease A lot . out tomato wiped has a
for leaves available This Britain . to export less
fresh war-torn laden produce . Shelves in Ukraine with

Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

Shoppers in the United Kingdom (U.K.) are having to hurt / hunt around to find supplies of fruit and vegetables. Britain's major / majorly supermarkets are rationing produce like cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes middle / amid shortages from suppliers. The big chains have sighted / cited various reasons for the shortfall in supply that has let / left shelves bare in green-grocery aisles / ails. Britain's biggest supermarket chain, Tesco, has limited purchases on / of certain vegetables to three for / per customer. Tesco attributed its shortages to adverse weather overseas. In particular, it said a drought / draught in Morocco had led to poor yields. Tesco assured / assumed customers it was working day and night to "get things back to normal".

Other factors are being blamed for / of the rationing. Britain's farmers' union said higher energy costs meant it was no longer financially fallible / viable for many growers to operate. It also said a tomato disease has wiped in / out a lot of crops across northern Europe. Industry analysis / analyst James Walton said Brexit has played / done a part in distribution problems. He said: "The EU accounts for much of the UK's import noise / volume. If there are shortfalls in / at production in the EU, then it makes sense / sensible for EU producers to serve their local demand first. This leaves less available for export to the U.K." Many shoppers are perplexed / perplexing at seeing photos on social media of supermarket shelves across Europe, and in war-torn Ukraine, laden to / with fresh produce.

Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct. Look up the definition of new words.

Insert the vowels (a, e, i, o, u)

Sh_pp_rs _n th_ _n_t_d K_ngd_m (_.K.) _r_ h_v_ng t_ h_nt _r__nd t_ f_nd s_ppl__s _f fr__t _nd v_g_t_bl_s. Br_t__n's m_j_r s_p_rm_rk_ts _r_ r_t__n_ng pr_d_c_ l_k_ c_c_mb_rs, p_pp_rs _nd t_m_t__s _m_d sh_rt_g_s fr_m s_ppl__rs. Th_ b_g ch__ns h_v_ c_t_d v_r___s r__s_ns f_r th_ sh_rtf_ll _n s_pply th_t h_s l_ft sh_lv_s b_r_ _n gr__n-gr_c_ry __sl_s. Br_t__n's b_gg_st s_p_rm_rk_t ch__n, T_sc_, h_s l_m_t_d p_rch_s_s _f c_rt__n v_g_t_bl_s t_ thr__ p_r c_st_m_r. T_sc_ _ttr_b_t_d _ts sh_rt_g_s t_ _dv_rs_ w__th_r _v_rs__s. _n p_rt_c_l_r, _t s__d _ dr__ght _n M_r_cc_ h_d l_d t_ p__r y__lds. T_sc_ _ss_r_d c_st_m_rs _t w_s w_rk_ng d_y _nd n_ght t_ "g_t th_ngs b_ck t_ n_rm_l".

_th_r f_ct_rs _r_ b__ng bl_m_d f_r th_ r_t__n_ng. Br_t__n's f_rm_rs' _n__n s__d h_gh_r _n_rgy c_sts m__nt _t w_s n_ l_ng_r f_n_nc__lly v__bl_ f_r m_ny gr_w_rs t_ _p_r_t_. _t _ls_ s__d _ t_m_t_ d_s__s_ h_s w_p_d __t _ l_t _f cr_ps _cr_ss n_rth_rn __r_p_. _nd_stry _n_lyst J_m_s W_lt_n s__d Br_x_t h_s pl_y_d _ p_rt _n d_str_b_t__n pr_bl_ms. H_ s__d: "Th_ __ _cc__nts f_r m_ch _f th_ _K's _mp_rt v_l_m_. _f th_r_ _r_ sh_rtf_lls _n pr_d_ct__n _n th_ __, th_n _t m_k_s s_ns_ f_r __ pr_d_c_rs t_ s_rv_ th__r l_c_l d_m_nd f_rst. Th_s l__v_s l_ss _v__l_bl_ f_r _xp_rt t_ th_ _.K." M_ny sh_pp_rs _r_ p_rpl_x_d _t s___ng ph_t_s _n s_c__l m_d__ _f s_p_rm_rk_t sh_lv_s _cr_ss __r_p_, _nd _n w_r-t_rn _kr__n_, l_d_n w_th fr_sh pr_d_c_.

Punctuate the text and add capitals

shoppers in the united kingdom uk are having to hunt around to find supplies of fruit and vegetables britains major supermarkets are rationing produce like cucumbers peppers and tomatoes amid shortages from suppliers the big chains have cited various reasons for the shortfall in supply that has left shelves bare in greengrocery aisles britains biggest supermarket chain tesco has limited purchases of certain vegetables to three per customer tesco attributed its shortages to adverse weather overseas in particular it said a drought in morocco had led to poor yields tesco assured customers it was working day and night to get things back to normal

other factors are being blamed for the rationing britains farmers union said higher energy costs meant it was no longer financially viable for many growers to operate it also said a tomato disease has wiped out a lot of crops across northern europe industry analyst james walton said brexit has played a part in distribution problems he said the eu accounts for much of the uks import volume if there are shortfalls in production in the eu then it makes sense for eu producers to serve their local demand first this leaves less available for export to the uk many shoppers are perplexed at seeing photos on social media of supermarket shelves across europe and in wartorn ukraine laden with fresh produce

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

ShoppersintheUnitedKingdom(U.K.)arehavingtohuntaroundtofinds
uppliesoffruitandvegetables.Britain'smajorsupermarketsarerationi
ngproducelikecucumbers,peppersandtomatoesamidshortagesfrom
suppliers.Thebigchainshavecitedvariousreasonsfortheshortfallinsu
pplythathasleftshelvesbareingreen-groceryaisles.Britain'sbiggests
upermarketchain,Tesco,haslimitedpurchasesofcertainvegetablesto
threepercustomer.Tescoattributeditsshortagestoadverseweathero
verseas.Inparticular,itsaidadroughtinMoroccohadledtopooryields.T
escoassuredcustomersitwasworkingdayandnightto"getthingsbackt
onormal".Otherfactorsarebeingblamedfortherationing.Britain'sfar
mers'unionsaidhigherenergycostsmeantitwasnolongerfinanciallyvi
ableformanygrowerstooperate.Italsosaidatomatodiseasehaswiped
outalotofcropsacrossnorthernEurope.IndustryanalystJamesWalton
saidBrexithasplayedapartindistributionproblems.Hesaid:"TheEUacc
ountsformuchoftheUK'simportvolume.Ifthereareshortfallsinproduc
tionintheEU,thenitmakessenseforEUproducerstoservetheirlocalde
mandfirst.ThisleaveslessavailableforexporttotheU.K."Manyshopper
sareperplexedatseeingphotosonsocialmediaofsupermarketshelves
acrossEurope,andinwar-tornUkraine,ladenwithfreshproduce.

Free writing

Write about UK vegetable rationing for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Academic writing

We should all grow our own vegetables. Discuss.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Homework

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.
2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about this news story. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
3. VEGETABLES: Make a poster about vegetables. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
4. GROWING YOUR OWN: Write a magazine article about al of us growing our own vegetables to be more self-sufficient. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against this.
Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).
5. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.
6. LETTER: Write a letter to an expert on vegetables. Ask him/her three questions about them. Give him/her three of your opinions of vegetables. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

A Few Additional Activities for Students

Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

Also...

Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

News
Warm ups
Pre-reading / Post-reading
Using headlines
Working with words
While-reading / While-listening
Moving from text to speech
Post-reading / Post-listening
Discussions
Using opinions
Plans
Language
Using lists
Using quotes
Task-based activities
Role plays
Using the central characters in the article
Using themes from the news
Homework

Buy my book

$US 9.99

Answers

(Please look at page 26 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

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Breaking News English Lesson: Vegetable Shortages

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