在雅思大作文话题中，社会类话题始终是出现频率最多的话题。其中，有关“食物”的题目近五年来基本上每年都会出现一两次。值得注意的是，该类话题与社会发展之间的关系，比如食品与经济全球化，科技发展对食品的影响等。那么，烤鸭们在回应这类题目时，如何能够结合社会现状写出新意呢？本文将2014-2018年食品类题目分两大类，分别归纳食物类题型思路拓展。
一、食品-经济全球化
从2014年到2018年，与“食品与经济全球化”相关考点共出现三次，具体题目如下：
1. Nowadays, more people can eat a wide variety of food that can be grown in other areas than the food from local areas. Do you think the advantages of this development outweigh the disadvantages? (2016.08.13)
2. In many countries, it is convenient for people to buy a variety of food from all over the world. To what extent do you think the benefits outweigh the disadvantages? (2017.05.13)
3. In many countries, people like to eat a wide variety of food that can be grown in other areas. As a result, people eat more food produced in other regions than local food. Do the advantages of this trend outweigh its disadvantages? (2018.05.19)
上述三题的考点都聚焦在“引进外来食品的利弊”，引进外来产品对个人和社会肯定都是有利有弊的。连续三年都考到类似的题目，烤鸭们如何写出新意，赢得考官青睐呢？
一方面，引进外来食品的好处主要体现在以下三点：
首先，从个人的角度出发，消费者能够吃到世界各地的食物，生活水平大大提高(improve individuals’ wellbeing)。比如，过去我们只能吃到一两种主食(staples)满足“吃饱”的需求，而现在我们可以吃到各种外来食品(an array of exotic foods)实现“吃好”的理想。
其次，从社会的角度出发，进口食物可以保护国民免受突如其来的饥荒和长期的营养不良的风险(preserve local people from famine or malnutrition)，维护社会的基本稳定。根据FSIN (food security information network)发布的《2019年全球食物危机报告》，目前，处于食品短缺危机(crisis)到饥荒(famine)状态的国家主要集中在非洲地区，而导致该状态的主要原因主要是地区冲突(conflict and insecurity)、气候问题(climate shock)和经济动荡(economic turbulence)。因此，引进外国食物(food import)对于解决食品不安全(food insecurity)非常有效的。
最后，从经济的角度出发，进口外国食品在某种程度上能够大大加强整个食品产业的内部竞争(intense competition)，推动本地食品品质提升(drives local merchants to keep offering better products with lower price)，避免行业地方保护主义(local protectionism)，长期来看，将促进食品经济健康发展(boost food economy)。
但是，坏处也由以上这点产生，进口外国食品，短期来看，消费者转向购买进口食品，本地食品产业将受损(strike the local food industry)。但长远来看，外来食品的引入的刺激，如同“鲶鱼效应”(catfish effect)一般，可以激发(spark)当地食品行业的竞争，不断提升产品质量，给消费者带来更多物美价廉的食品(better products with lower price)。
二、食品-科技发展
从2014年到2018年，与“食品与经济全球化”相关考点共出现一次，具体题目如下：
The range and quality of food has been changed by the technical and scientific advances. Some people regard it as an improvement while others believe that the change is harmful. Discuss both sides and give your own opinion. (2016.06.25)
本题考点在于“科技发展对食品的影响所带来的利弊”，很多考生都会想到转基因食品(genetically modified food)或者杂交水稻(hybrid rice)，其实我们可以再引入一些更新的点，比如人造肉(artificial meat)。
“人造肉” (artificial meat)的概念最早是英国前首相丘吉尔提出来的，直到上世纪九十年代，美国航空航天局为改善宇航员太空食品，在实验室培育出了“人造肉”(cultured meat/lab-grown meat)。
随着世界人口的不断增加，食物需求量也在激增，很多公司将食物生产的目光转到了“人造肉”上，不论是“动物性人造肉” (cultured meat/lab-grown meat)还是“植物性人造肉”(vegan meat)在口感上基本接近畜牧肉(livestock)，并且因为人为培育，所以可以添加人体所需营养(micronutrient)；同时，避免注入畜牧肉中所需抗生素(antibiotics)
从环境方面来看，传统的畜牧业(conventional animal husbandry)对于淡水等资源的消耗很大(overconsumption of resources)，如果未来生产更多的人造肉，就可以大大减少畜牧肉的产量，从而更好地保护淡水等资源，维持生态平衡。
以下附上2017.05.13雅思大作文范文，以供烤鸭们参考(文章来源《新航道九分达人雅思写作真题还原及解析4》第171-172页) ：
Nowadays, a person can enter into virtually any major supermarket and obtain an array of foods from around the globe. Whether it is fruit from South America, spices from India, or meat from Australia, the diverse range of food choices available to people greatly enhances their quality of life.
Throughout human history, one of the primary markers of a developed civilisation has been the demand for foreign food products. Conversely, it can be seen that many poor nations rely on only one or two food staples to feed their population. This has profound psychological effects on the citizens of a country, acting as a point of pride for well-developed countries, and shame for those less fortunate. Thus, it is no wonder that in countries struggling economically, stores are so desperate to appear as if they can supply foreign food, despite the truth being quite the opposite.
One could argue that relying on foreign food could lead to an unwanted foreign influence on a country. However, I think this is negated by a very practical benefit these import agreements serve: they allow a nation to maintain a constant level of nutritious food in the event of domestic shortages. For example, when a nation that primarily grows one crop experiences a blight or drought, having preexisting food imports may ensure that the people of this nation will not need to suffer from famine or malnutrition. Similarly, a variety of foreign food sources will allow a country to save much of its land that it may need for farming and use it for other purposes, such as national parks or city-building.
In a nutshell, I believe that a diverse choice of imported foods is ultimately a net positive for a country, and should not be shied away from just because of xenophobic political concerns.
