Food and diet: IELTS Speaking Part 3 questions & answers

Opening question

Warm-up: close to home

1. Cause and effect

   Why do you think fast food has become so common?

   2
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   Sample answerBand 8Main causeAnother causeEffect

   1. Main cause→
   2. Another cause→
   3. Effect

   The main driver is lack of time, because when both parents work long hours, picking up a burger on the way home is far easier than cooking from scratch. Price and marketing play a big role too, since fast food is cheap, tastes reliably the same everywhere and is advertised relentlessly, often directly at children. The knock-on effect is a steady rise in diet-related problems like obesity and diabetes, which is putting growing pressure on health services.

   cooking from scratch

   making food from basic raw ingredients

   advertised relentlessly

   promoted constantly and aggressively

   The knock-on effect

   an indirect result that follows from something

   77 words · about 33 seconds spoken

Development: society

1. Compare

   How have people's eating habits changed compared with the past?

   3
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   Sample answerBand 8ThenNowWhy it changed

   1. Then→
   2. Now→
   3. Why it changed

   My grandparents ate whatever was in season and grown locally, and meals were eaten at set times, with snacking between them practically unheard of. Today we can buy strawberries in midwinter and food from every corner of the globe, and many people graze throughout the day instead of sitting down to three proper meals. Global supply chains have made almost any ingredient available all year round, and our routines have become so irregular that eating has had to fit around work rather than the other way round.

   practically unheard of

   almost never happening

   every corner of the globe

   everywhere in the world

   the other way round

   in the opposite order or situation

   87 words · about 38 seconds spoken

2. Opinion

   Do you think it is important for families to eat together?

   4
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   Sample answerBand 8My viewWhyExampleBut

   1. My view→
   2. Why→
   3. Example→
   4. But

   Yes, I'd go as far as to say it's one of the simplest ways of keeping a family close. A shared meal is often the only point in the day when everyone's in one room without a screen, so it's when children mention what's worrying them and parents notice if something's wrong. In my household growing up, dinner was non-negotiable, and a lot of the most memorable conversations I had with my father happened over a plate of food. It isn't always realistic, of course, with shift work and long commutes, so a few proper meals together each week probably matter more than forcing it every single night.

   I'd go as far as to say

   I'm willing to make this strong claim

   over a plate of food

   while eating a meal together

   It isn't always realistic

   it's not always practical or possible

   108 words · about 47 seconds spoken

3. Pros and cons

   What are the advantages and disadvantages of eating out often?

   5
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   Sample answerBand 8UpsideDownsideOn balance

   1. Upside→
   2. Downside→
   3. On balance

   Eating out regularly saves a huge amount of time and effort, and it can be a lovely way to socialise and try cuisines you'd never attempt to cook yourself. The drawbacks are mainly financial and nutritional, because restaurant meals cost several times more than home cooking, they tend to be loaded with salt, sugar and fat, and portions are usually larger than anyone needs. So I'd see it as a treat rather than a habit, since once it becomes the default, both your bank balance and your waistline tend to suffer.

   loaded with salt, sugar and fat

   containing far too much of these

   a treat rather than a habit

   something special and occasional, not routine

   becomes the default

   becomes the normal, automatic choice

   91 words · about 40 seconds spoken

4. Opinion

   Should schools be responsible for teaching children about healthy eating?

   6
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   Sample answerBand 8My viewWhyExampleBut

   1. My view→
   2. Why→
   3. Example→
   4. But

   Schools should definitely share that responsibility, though I don't believe they can carry it alone. Not every child has parents who know much about nutrition or can afford fresh food, so school might be the only place where they learn what a balanced diet actually looks like. Some schools near me have started small vegetable gardens where pupils grow and cook their own produce, and teachers say children are far more willing to try a vegetable they've grown themselves. However, lessons can only achieve so much if the canteen serves chips every day and there's a fast food outlet next to the school gates, so the message has to be consistent.

   carry it alone

   deal with a responsibility without any help

   a balanced diet

   a healthy mix of different kinds of food

   can only achieve so much

   has a limited effect

   111 words · about 48 seconds spoken

Depth: the abstract and the future

1. The future

   How might the way people eat change in the next few decades?

   7
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   Sample answerBand 8PredictionBecauseBut

   1. Prediction→
   2. Because→
   3. But

   I'd imagine meat will gradually become more of an occasional luxury, with plant-based alternatives and perhaps even meat grown in laboratories taking its place on everyday menus. Producing meat uses enormous amounts of land and water, and as the population grows and the climate becomes less predictable, that model will become harder to sustain and more expensive. Even so, food habits are notoriously stubborn because they're bound up with culture and comfort, and I doubt the family recipes people grew up with will vanish, even if the ingredients in them change.

   more of an occasional luxury

   something enjoyed only now and then

   harder to sustain

   more difficult to keep going

   bound up with

   closely connected to

   91 words · about 40 seconds spoken

2. What if

   If healthy food were cheaper than unhealthy food, would people's diets improve?

   8
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   Sample answerBand 8If soResultWider effect

   1. If so→
   2. Result→
   3. Wider effect

   If healthy food were the cheaper option, diets would almost certainly improve, particularly among low-income families, who currently have to stretch every penny. You'd see more fresh vegetables and fewer processed snacks in shopping baskets, because price is one of the strongest factors in what people buy from week to week. Over a generation, that could ease the burden on hospitals considerably, although price alone wouldn't solve everything, since habits, convenience and cooking skills also determine what ends up on the plate.

   stretch every penny

   spend money very carefully to make it last

   ease the burden on

   reduce the pressure on

   ends up on the plate

   is finally served and eaten

   82 words · about 36 seconds spoken

3. Pros and cons

   Is traditional home cooking being lost in modern life?

   9
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   Sample answerBand 8UpsideDownsideOn balance

   1. Upside→
   2. Downside→
   3. On balance

   Encouragingly, there's been a renewed interest in traditional cooking, partly thanks to online videos where grandmothers share their recipes with millions of viewers. In everyday life, though, fewer people cook elaborate traditional dishes on a weekday, because they take hours, and many young adults leave home without ever having learned the techniques their parents used. So my sense is that the knowledge isn't disappearing so much as becoming a weekend hobby or something for special occasions, which is a shame in some ways but far better than losing it altogether.

   a renewed interest in

   interest that has returned after a period

   isn't disappearing so much as

   is changing rather than vanishing completely

   a shame in some ways

   regrettable to some degree

   90 words · about 39 seconds spoken