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Hello, this is 6 Minute English
from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.
And I'm Beth.
It seems people around the world are
in love with snacks!
From old favourites like popcorn
and crisps to new inventions
like the chocolate sandwich,
snacks are big business,
with an estimated $1.5 trillion
a year spent globally on snacking.
Let's listen
as British food historian Annie Gray
and Argentinian chef Barbara Oievari
tell BBC World Service programme
The Food Chain what
they like to snack on between meals.
I like salted peanuts and I love a
banana – preferably together, actually.
I find that they hit the spot.
My favourite snack is called chipa.
It's a small, round bun made with
cassava, cheese, butter, milk and salt.
Barbara's favourite snack is
a cheese bread called chipa,
while for Annie, it's the combination
of peanuts and banana
that hits the spot – an idiom meaning
that it's exactly what you want.
Neil, what's your favourite snack?
Well, I want
to say something healthy,
but actually, you know,
I really love a bag of crisps.
Oh, me too!
Yeah, crisps are good.
Well, whatever you like to nibble on,
in this episode we'll find out why
we are so in love with snack food.
As usual, we'll learn
some useful new words and phrases.
And remember –
you'll find all the vocabulary
and a quiz on our website,
bbclearningenglish.com.
OK. But first I have a question
for you, Beth.
According to a recent YouGov survey,
which of the following snacks
is most popular among Brits?
Is it: a) crisps,
b) confectionery and chocolate,
or c) savoury snacks and biscuits?
Well, we both just said crisps
so I'm going to say crisps.
Well, we'll find out the answer later
in the programme.
Someone with a professional interest
in snacking is Christine Cochran,
president of SNAC International, the
trade association for the industry.
Here, Christine shares her ideas
about why we love to snack with
BBC World Service programme
The Food Chain.
A snack is an affordable luxury,
so if you've had a bad day
or money is tight, this is something
that you can turn to,
and I think that is why you see it
as so popular.
Consumers,
especially in the United States,
are looking for smaller,
more convenient portions.
They're not always going to be able
to sit down
and have three meals a day, right?
So, they're eating on the go,
and the other thing that you see
is this desire for very specific
functional ingredients, right?
So, mental clarity, gut health, muscle
development, these sorts of things.
Again, they're nicely packaged
in snack sizes.
Snacks are often seen
as a little luxury,
but to be successful
a snack must also be affordable –
an adjective meaning not expensive.
Snacks which are cheap enough
for most people to buy
will sell even if money is tight –
a phrase used to describe a situation
where there's only just enough money
to live on.
Thanks to snacks, today fewer
people sit down to eat a proper meal.
Instead, they eat on the go.
If you do something
on the go, you do it
while you're busy travelling
or moving around, rather than at home.
Many modern snacks target
a specific function.
For example, an energy drink might
claim to improve your gut health
or your mental clarity –
a term describing a state of mind
which is focused and engaged,
not dull or foggy.
But not everyone is a fan
of modern packaged snacks,
such as the bags of crisps and
chocolate bars which fill our shops.
Originally from Argentina, Barbara
Oievari now lives in Florida, USA.
Here, Barbara tells
BBC World Service's The Food Chain
how she encourages her nine-year-old
son to choose more natural snacks.
Personally, I enjoy cooking and
eating more natural, simpler snacks,
but of course I can't swim
against the current,
and if my nine-year-old wants to eat the
little baked snacks that have cheddar...
ironically it is something baked
with cheese in it,
which is similar to what I enjoy –
it's just the modern twist.
Barbara wants her son to eat healthy,
homemade food,
although he prefers modern,
packaged snacks.
Barbara complains she can't swim
against the current.
The idiom, swim against the current,
means to act differently
from other people, often because
you do not mind being different.
Well, Neil, all these snacks
have made me hungry!
Now, isn't it time to reveal
the answer to your question?
Yes, it is. I asked:
According to
a recent YouGov survey,
which of the following snacks is
the most popular amongst Brits?
Crisps, confectionery and chocolate,
or savoury snacks and biscuits.
And the answer was...
b) confectionery and chocolate, which
45% of Britons indulge in weekly,
according to that survey.
OK. Let's recap the vocabulary
we've learned,
starting with the phrase,
hits the spot,
which describes something which is
exactly what you want or need.
If something is affordable,
it's cheap enough that most
people have enough money to buy it.
The phrase, money is tight, means you
only have just enough money to live.
The idiom on the go
means doing things
while you're busy travelling
or moving around.
Mental clarity is a state
in which your mind is fully focused
and active, not dull or foggy.
And finally, people who swim
against the current, or the tide,
do or say things differently
from most other people.
Once again, our six minutes are up,
but why not head over to our website,
bbclearningenglish.com,
to try the quiz and worksheets
for this episode.
See you again soon!
Goodbye.
Vocabulary
Word 1 of 14snack on
phrase
0:39
"to eat small amounts of food between meals."
More Listening Practice
About this lesson
Practice English with this conversation about favorite snacks.