NO MORE FISH 'N' CHIPS: THE ORIGINAL FAST FOOD IS STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE …
[1] It is the original British fast food; fish 'n' chips, the original "carry‐out" meal, has been part of
British life for over 100 years. But will it survive much longer? Perhaps only in the form of a
luxury for those who can afford it. Long before the Big Mac was invented, Britain had its own
national form of fast food.
[5] "When I was a young man, it was the sort of thing you'd have once or twice a week," remembers
82‐year old Arthur Mowbrey. "Before the last war, you'd get a full size portion of cod and chips
for sixpence. It was cheap, and good". Fish 'n' chips was nourishing too. It was a proper meal, that
you could eat in the street on your way home from work, or during the lunch‐break. Wrapped in
newspaper, it would keep warm to the last chip, even on the coldest days of the year.
[10] In the last quarter of a century, things have changed. "It's not so popular with young people these
days," says Lizzie, a teenager. "Most of the time, if young people want to eat out, they'll go to a
Burger King or something like that, or a Chinese take‐away. Fish 'n' chips is a bit old‐fashioned
really, I suppose. But there are still cheap chip shops around. I had fish 'n' chips about three
weeks ago. We sometimes have it at home, and we go and get it from the chip shop. It saves
[15] cooking!"
Thousands of chip shops, however, have closed in the last twenty‐five years. Some have been
turned into Chinese or Indian take‐aways, others have just closed. They have survived best in
seaside towns, where the fish is really fresh, and people visit them more as a tradition than for
any other reason. Yet nothing, perhaps, can save the classic fish 'n' chip shop from extinction.
[20] Fish 'n' chips wrapped in newspaper is already just a memory of the past. British and European
hygiene rules no longer allow food to be wrapped in old papers, so today's carry‐out chip shops
use new paper or styrofoam cartons. Of course, you can still eat fish and chips with your fingers if
you want, but there are now plastic throw‐away forks for those who don't want to get greasy
fingers! Yet in spite of these changes, the classic fish 'n' chip shop could disappear from British
[25] streets in a few years' time, for a completely different reason; lack of fish.
For over ten years, European agriculture ministers have been trying to solve the fish problem,
but with little success. As a result of modern industrial fishing, some types of fish are facing
extinction in the North Sea and Atlantic. "Overfishing in the North Sea has reached crisis levels,"
say Greenpeace. Quotas have been introduced, but each time there are new restrictions,
[30] fishermen in Britain, France, Spain and other countries protest, because jobs are lost.
Sadly, this is inevitable; and unless strict quotas are applied, thousands of European fishermen
could lose their jobs, as there will be few fish left to catch (at least, few of the kinds of fish that
people want to eat). One way or the other, sea fish will become rarer, and therefore more
expensive.
Fonte:http://linguapress.com/intermediate/nomorefishnchips.htm (acesso e adaptado em 05/04/11)
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