Globally, About a Third of the Food Produced for Human Consumption GMAT Reading Comprehension

Reading Passage Question

Globally, about a third of the food produced for human consumption goes to waste, implying that a third of the water, land use, energy and financial resources that go into producing it are also squandered. Yet people often think of food as environmentally benign because it is biodegradable, while label food packaging as a wasteful use of resources leading to nothing but more pollution, despite the reality that the energy that goes into packaging makes up a mere 10% of the total energy that goes into producing, transporting, storing and preparing food. Needless to say, their view ignores the negative impact of food production, supply, and consumption, and the benefits possible from the right kind of food packaging.

Indeed the dislike for food packaging is not all baseless. There is a lot of bad and wasteful packaging out there. But any assessment of its impact on the environment must take into account the benefits one can derive from packaging in the shape of reduced food waste that can be realised by protecting and dispensing food properly. For instance, two percent of the milk produced in the US goes bad on supermarket shelves before it can be purchased. This dairy waste can be avoided with packaging technology such as Tetra Pak that saves milk from spoiling, even without refrigeration. However, environmentally aware consumers tend to dislike Tetra Pak material because they think it cannot be recycled. The truth, however, is that it can be recycled, but the process is rather complicated. Irrespective of the recycling aspect, Tetra Pak is a good environmental bet because it can extend the shelf life of milk up to nine months, reducing the need for refrigeration — and reducing the amount of milk that goes bad on retail shelves. Clearly, the environmental benefit of the food-protection technology outweighs the negative impact of the packaging itself.

‘Globally, about a third of the food produced for human consumption’ is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 7 comprehension questions.

The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Questions and Solutions

1. The author is primarily concerned with

1. presenting a more complete picture of a situation and suggesting a radical solution to the problem
2. citing an example of a belief that is not entirely baseless
3. summarising the negative impacts of an industry, effects of which people are not fully aware
4. arguing against a popular belief
5. attacking a mindset that has no empirical basis

2. Which of the following statements can be derived from the passage?

1. The popularity of Tetra Pak in the packaging industry would increase manifold if the environmentally aware customers change their opinion about it.
2. The complexity involved in the process of recycling Tetra Pak is the reason behind the material’s limited popularity with environmentally aware consumers.
3. It is likely that developed countries, which use a lot more food packaging material than developing countries, have lower rates of food wastage than developing countries.
4. No biodegradable substance can be labelled as completely benign for the environment.
5. In some cases, the recyclability of a material is not the overriding factor in determining its impact on the environment.

3. Which of the following is the function of the first paragraph in the passage?

1. To introduce a view that is responsible for a significant proportion of wastage in an industry
2. To raise a few considerations against a popular belief
3. To contrast two views on a highly debated topic
4. To state a situation that has severe damaging effects on the environment
5. To highlight that a popular belief, although credible sometimes, does not take into account the full situation

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