Iran war puts global food production at risk: fertiliser boss: BBC Learning English from the News

0:00 From BBC Learning English.

0:02 This is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.

0:06 In this programme, Iran war puts global food production at risk,

0:11 according to fertiliser boss.

0:16 Hello, I'm Neil.

0:17 And I'm Georgie.

0:18 In this programme we look at one big news story

0:21 and the vocabulary in the headlines that will help you understand it.

0:25 You can find all the vocabulary and headlines from this episode,

0:28 as well as a worksheet on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.

0:33 So, let's hear more about this story.

0:42 Global food production is being threatened

0:44 by an interruption of fertiliser supply,

0:47 according to the boss of one of the world's biggest fertiliser producers.

0:51 Fertiliser is something that farmers put on fields to help plants grow.

0:56 The boss of Yara, a company which makes fertiliser,

0:59 says that this means the world will be

1:01 able to produce ten billion fewer meals a week.

1:05 And this will hit poorest countries hardest.

1:07 The UN World Food Programme estimates that the Middle East conflict

1:12 could cause 45 million additional people to experience severe hunger in 2026.

1:18 Let's have our first headline.

1:20 Trade Zone: A perfect storm rippling across the world's food supply chains.

1:25 And that headline again trade zone.

1:27 A perfect storm rippling across the world's food supply chains.

1:31 And that's from the business news section of the RBC Bank.

1:35 Now, there's a couple of interesting pieces of vocabulary in this headline.

1:38 We have a perfect storm that refers to a situation,

1:42 usually negative, which happens because of a combination of circumstances.

1:46 In this context, there's a combination

1:49 of factors affecting global food production,

1:51 for example, the war in Iran and climate change.

1:54 That's a perfect storm.

1:56 But we're looking at this word 'rippling'.

1:59 Yes, 'ripple' comes from water.

2:01 So if you drop a stone in water, it creates a ripple,

2:05 a series of small waves in a circular shape.

2:08 Now that's literal.

2:09 But metaphorically, 'ripple' is used to mean

2:11 that a problem spreads from one place to another, causing effects as it moves.

2:17 In the headline 'ripple' is a verb and is followed by 'across',

2:21 a perfect storm rippling across the world's food supply chains.

2:26 The headline is saying that the effects

2:27 of the war in Iran are felt across the world.

2:30 The effects on food supplies are rippling, or spreading, beyond the Middle East.

2:35 Yes.

2:36 Now, in the headline we see 'ripple across'.

2:39 You're also likely to hear 'ripple through'.

2:41 For example, news of their colleagues resignation rippled through the office.

2:45 It spread through the office.

2:47 And another common phrase you'll hear is 'ripple effect'.

2:51 That's a situation where an initial event causes other things to happen.

2:55 For example, her charity donation created a ripple effect.

2:59 Other people were inspired to donate as well.

3:06 We've had 'ripple', spread and affect many places.

3:13 For example, rising fuel prices are rippling through the economy.

3:23 This is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.

3:27 Today, we're talking about threats to global

3:30 food production caused by the war in Iran.

3:33 So why is global food production under threat?

3:36 When the United States and Israel struck Iran on the 28th of February,

3:41 the Strait of Hormuz, which is a narrow waterway between Iran,

3:44 the United Arab Emirates and Oman, effectively shut down.

3:49 About one third of the world's

3:51 fertiliser trade normally passes through the strait.

3:54 The strait is also a vital channel for imports to the Middle East,

3:58 including food, medicines and technological supplies.

4:01 Let's have our next headline.

4:04 This one is from Al Jazeera, an international news organisation.

4:08 As Iran crisis drags on, fears of global food catastrophe grow.

4:12 That headline again from Al Jazeera.

4:15 As Iran crisis drags on, fears of global food catastrophe grow.

4:20 Now, this headline is from a couple of weeks ago,

4:23 and it's about fears that the war in Iran will lead to global food catastrophe.

4:27 'Catastrophe' is similar to 'disaster', something that is very bad.

4:31 We're looking at the phrasal verb 'drag on'.

4:35 The Iran crisis drags on.

4:37 But what does that mean?

4:38 It probably helps to understand the verb 'drag' in its literal sense.

4:43 'Drag' means to pull something heavy across a surface, usually the floor.

4:47 So imagine moving a heavy sofa to a new place.

4:51 You might drag it across the floor.

4:53 It's hard and slow to do, and it takes a lot of time.

4:56 The phrasal verb 'drag on' means to last for a long time,

5:00 but it has that same sense that something's slow and difficult,

5:04 it lasts longer than it should or longer than people expect.

5:07 Yeah.

5:08 So the headline says the Iran crisis drags

5:11 on, meaning perhaps it's lasting longer than people expected.

5:14 Now, war is a very serious context to use this phrasal verb,

5:18 but it has some more everyday uses as well.

5:21 For example, today's meeting really dragged on.

5:25 I couldn't wait for it to end.

5:27 Yes, or that film didn't need to be three hours long.

5:30 It really dragged on.

5:35 We had 'drag on', last for a long time, perhaps longer than expected.

5:43 For example, teacher strikes dragged

5:45 on for years because neither side could agree.

5:53 This is Learning English from the News from BBC Learning English.

5:57 We're talking about the impact of the US-Israel

6:00 war with Iran on global food production.

6:03 The price of fertiliser has increased by 80% since

6:06 the beginning of the US and Israel's war on Iran.

6:09 One of the regions that will be most affected is Asia and the Pacific,

6:13 where food insecurity is expected to rise by 24%.

6:17 'Food insecurity' means that people don't have a reliable source of food.

6:22 In the UK, food inflation, and that means the rising price of food,

6:27 could reach 10% by December, according to the Food and Drink Federation.

6:31 This is because less fertiliser means less food is grown

6:35 and if there is less food available, then prices rise.

6:38 And our next headline is about this.

6:41 This one is from Sky News.

6:43 Food price inflation still rising,

6:45 as lower income households feel the squeeze, study says.

6:49 That headline again from Sky News.

6:52 Food price inflation still rising,

6:54 as lower income households feel the squeeze, study says.

6:58 So, this headline is about the impact of the Iran war on UK food prices.

7:03 We're looking at this phrase 'feel the squeeze'.

7:07 Well, think about squeezing a lemon.

7:09 You hold it and press it firmly on all sides so that juice comes out.

7:14 You put pressure on it to make it smaller.

7:17 Yes.

7:17 Now the expression 'feel the squeeze' means you

7:20 feel financial pressure because things are becoming more expensive.

7:24 The pressure means that you have less money to spend.

7:27 So in this context, households with less

7:29 money are finding it harder to afford food.

7:32 They're feeling the squeeze.

7:34 The expression 'feel the squeeze' is about money and rising costs.

7:38 So another example, her family's been feeling

7:41 the squeeze since she lost her job.

7:43 Another useful phrase to use when someone can't afford things.

7:47 You can say that someone is struggling to make ends meet.

7:53 We've had 'feel the squeeze', experience financial pressure.

8:00 For example, they're feeling the squeeze since their rent went up last month.

8:05 That's it for this episode of Learning English from the News.

8:08 We'll be back next week with another news story.

8:10 And if you're interested in learning more English about the topic of money,

8:14 you should check out our special page with lots more programmes about money.

8:18 Find it at bbclearningenglish.com.

8:21 Bye for now.

8:23 Goodbye.