UPSC Prelims 2015·CSAT·Reading Comprehension·Passage Comprehension

Foods travel more than the people who eat them. Grocery stores and supermarkets are loaded with preserved and processed foods. This, however, often leads to environmental threats, such as pollution generated by long distance food transportation and wastage of food during processing and transportation, destruction of rain forests, reduced nutritional content, increased demand for preservation and packaging. Food insecurity also increases as the produce comes from regions that are not feeding their own population properly. With reference to the above passage, which of the following statements is/are true? 1) Consuming regionally grown food and not depending on long travelled food is a part of eco-friendly behaviour. 2) Food processing industry puts a burden on our natural resources. Select the correct answer using the code given below:

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  1. A1 only
  2. B2 only
  3. CBoth 1 and 2Correct
  4. DNeither 1 nor 2

Explanation

The passage highlights several environmental threats associated with the current food system, including pollution from long-distance transportation, food wastage during processing and transportation, destruction of rainforests, and increased demand for preservation and packaging. Statement 1: The passage explicitly mentions "pollution generated by long distance food transportation" as an environmental threat. Therefore, consuming regionally grown food, which reduces long-distance travel, would mitigate this pollution and thus be considered eco-friendly behavior. This statement is true. Statement 2: The passage states that the system leads to "destruction of rain forests" and "increased demand for preservation and packaging." Destruction of rainforests is a direct burden on natural resources. Increased demand for preservation and packaging also implies the consumption of natural resources for materials and energy. Therefore, the food processing industry (which includes preservation and packaging) puts a burden on natural resources. This statement is true. Since both statements are supported by the information in the passage, option C is the correct answer.
Reading Comprehension: Foods travel more than the people who eat them. Grocery stores and supermarkets are loaded with preserved and processed

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