Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1036, Farming and Agribusiness.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 1036.
I'm your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan.
Coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
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This episode is a dialogue between Brad and Irene. about farming, growing food.
Let's get started.
Is this your first visit to this area?
It is, and I'm surprised to see so many farms.
I thought farming was a dying industry.
Family farms and small-scale farming are disappearing, but agribusiness is alive and well thanks to government subsidies.
They can be, but the subsidies were originally given to protect the livelihood of farmers.
And that's not what's happening?
Well, agribusiness has edged out small-scale farms because output is the name of the game.
A lot of small-scale farmers have thrown in the towel.
That's a shame.
But the subsidies are still used to protect domestic food production, right?
That may be, but we're losing a way of life.
I come from a long line of farmers And you're not farming.
Nope What do you do?
I work for the government agency that gives out subsidies to the very farms that put us out of business.
That's quite a twist of fate.
You said it.
Our dialogue begins with Brad asking Irene, is this your first visit to this area?
Is this the first time you have been here?
Irene says, it is, and I'm surprised to see so many farms.
I thought farming was a dying industry.
A farm is a large area of land where food is grown and animals are also kept, animals that are used eventually for food.
Irene thought that farming was a dying industry.
An industry.
I-N-D-U-S-T-R-Y is a business or, more properly, a kind of business, a part of the economy that includes similar kinds of businesses.
So we could have the movie industry business.
That would include all of the companies here in Los Angeles and other places that make movies.
Irene thought that farming was a dying industry.
Dying comes from the verb to die.
To die means to stop living, to no longer be living.
Dying implies that something is still alive, but it's going to be dead very soon.
The idea here is that not that many people are going into farming and that the business of farming won't be around for a long time, at least in the area that Brad and Irene are talking about.
Brad says.
However, family farms and small-scale farming are disappearing, but agribusiness is alive and well.
A family farm would be a farm owned by, that's correct, a single family.
Back in the 19th and early 20th century, most farms were probably owned by individual families that grew food for themselves and, of course, to sell to other people.
However, during the 1970s and 80s, many of these family farms disappeared.
That is, they were no longer able to be profitable.
And so the families either sold the farm to a large business or to someone who wanted to do something else with the land.
Agribusiness, A-G-R-I-B-U-S-I-N-E-S-S, is formed from two different words, agriculture and business.
Agriculture is another word to describe the growing of food.
Agribusiness is a word we use to describe large companies that own farms.
Brad says that agribusiness is alive and well.
That expression to be alive and well is quite common in English.
It means to be doing very well, to have a lot of success.
The agribusinesses are successful, according to Brad, thanks to or because of government subsidies.
A subsidy, S-U-B-S-I-D-Y is when someone gives you money to do something.
In the United States, as in many countries, the government tries to protect farms and to protect the agricultural business by giving businesses and farmers money money to grow certain kinds of food.
Now, the economic reasoning for this activity is somewhat questionable, according to some economists.
Many economists say it doesn't make sense for the government to pay people in farming when they don't pay people in other businesses in order to survive.
Of course there are arguments on the other side.
That is, there are people who think it does do some good.
Irene says, are they lucrative?
They here refers to the businesses involved in agriculture.
The word lucrative, L-U-C-R-A-T-I-V-E, means profitable.
It means making a lot of money.
If your business is lucrative, you are making a lot of money.
You are getting rich.
Brad says they can be, meaning these businesses can be lucrative, but the subsidies were originally given to protect the livelihood of farmers.
Brad explains why the government started giving subsidies to farmers many years ago.
The reason and the reason that many governments give for these subsidies is to protect the livelihood of farmers.
Livelihood L-I-V-E, L-I-H-O-O-D refers to one's job or career, how you make a living, how you make money.
My livelihood is working for the Center for Educational Development doing these podcasts.
Other people's livelihoods depend on different jobs that they have.
The livelihood of farmers then refers to the economic well-being of farmers, the jobs of farmers.
When most farms were owned by families, the government felt it was important to protect these families, to make sure that they didn't, if you will go out of business,
Irene says, and that's not what's happening?
She's questioning Brad, asking him if that is not still the purpose of these government subsidies.
Brad says well, agribusiness has edged out small-scale farms, because output is the name of the game.
The phrasal verb to edge E-D-G-E out means to do better than someone or something else, so that you become more powerful and the other person or thing becomes less powerful, less influential, less successful.
Brad is saying that agribusiness has edged out small-scale, small farms.
It has become more successful.
Why?
Brad explains that output is the name of the game.
Output, O-U-T-P-U-T. is what you produce, what you make.
Agribusinesses are large companies that produce a lot of food, and that makes them more successful.
The phrase the name of the game means the most important thing in deciding how the way things are done.
The name of the game means in college is getting good grades and saying nice things to your professor, which gives you good grades.
Well, that's not exactly true.
Just because you say something nice to your professor doesn't mean he or she will give you a good grade.
But in my own experience it doesn't hurt, meaning it will never harm you.
The name of the game here in agribusiness is output, is producing a lot of food.
Brad says, a lot of small-scale farmers have thrown in the towel.
The expression to throw in the towel T-O-W-E-L means to give up, to stop trying, especially when something seems too difficult.
Irene responds, that's a shame.
The expression that's a shame S-H-A-M-E is used to express sadness about something that is happening, especially something that seems unfair, unjust.
Irene says the subsidies are still used to protect domestic food production, right?
Domestic, D-O-M-E-S-T-I-C, here means within a country.
The opposite of domestic would be international.
This is another reason why governments give subsidies to farmers, because It's to protect the production of food within the country so that, in case there's a war or other problems, they don't have to rely on or depend on other countries in order to get their food.
At least that's one of the official reasons given.
I think it probably is more political than that, but we won't get into that here.
Brad says that may be meaning yes, it's possible that these subsidies are used to protect domestic food production.
But, he says, we're losing a way of life.
A way of life is a way of living, the way things are done, the culture of that particular area.
Brad says, I come from a long line of farmers.
If you say I come from a long line of something, you mean that you have many family members involved in a particular business or industry or area.
There's also the implication here that this has been going on for many years, perhaps many generations.
For example, I come from a long line of plumbers, people who fix toilets and sinks.
My grandfather was a plumber.
My uncles were plumbers.
My father was not a plumber.
He was a teacher.
The McQuillans are known in the place where I grew up, St.
Paul, Minnesota, as plumbers.
And still today, my cousins own McQuillan Brothers Plumbing.
So I come from a long line of plumbers.
I could also say I come from a long line of teachers because my father is a teacher.
My sister and two of my brothers were teachers.
I have nieces who are teachers.
But we're talking not about me, but about Brad.
Brad is asked by Irene, and you're not farming?
Brad says, nope.
Nope is an informal way of saying no.
Irene says, what do you do?
Brad says I work for the government agency, the part of the government that gives out subsidies to the very farms that put us out of business.
Brad says he works for the government agency, the part of the government that actually gives the money, the subsidies, to these large agribusinesses.
He uses the term the very farms that put us out of business.
The use of the word very here means these precise or exact things.
It's a word used to emphasize the next word, the following word.
Usually, this construction, this word is used when you are pointing out something that is ironic, something that seems contradictory.
For example, you could say the very parents who complain about the schools not doing their job are the ones that never help their children with their homework.
That's not true, but that would be an example of using this word very to specify a group who seems to be acting in some contradictory manner.
Irene says that's quite a twist of fate.
A twist T-W-I-S-T of fate, F-A-T-E is an unexpected change in events, especially one that is ironic.
So in this case, Brad used to work on a family farm and now he works for the government agency that gives money to the agribusinesses that in some ways put the family farms out of business.
So it's ironic, I-R-O-N-I-C.
It's the opposite of what you would expect.
Brad ends the dialogue by saying, you said it.
That expression you said.
It is often used when you want to agree with what the other person has said and emphasize how correct the other person is.
I'd say we use this expression when the other person is saying something negative.
For example, it's really cold in here.
You might say, you said it.
It is cold in here.
You are agreeing with the other person and emphasizing how correct you think the other person is.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Is this your first visit to this area?
It is, and I'm surprised to see so many farms.
I thought farming was a dying industry.
Family farms and small-scale farming are disappearing, but agribusiness is alive and well thanks to government subsidies.
Are they lucrative?
They can be, but the subsidies were originally given to protect the livelihood of farmers.
And that's not what's happening?
Well, agribusiness has edged out small-scale farms because output is the name of the game.
A lot of small-scale farmers have thrown in the towel.
That's a shame, but the subsidies are still used to protect domestic food production, right?
That may be, but we're losing a way of life.
I come from a long line of farmers.
And you're not farming?
Nope.
What do you do?
I work for the government agency that gives out subsidies to the very farms that put us out of business.
That's quite a twist of fate.
You said it.
Here at ESL Podcast, we're glad that our script writer hasn't thrown in the towel yet.
That's because we love our wonderful scripts. written by Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2014 by the Center for Educational Development.
