IGCSE FLE Narratives & Sample Responses

Do We Eat Convenience Store Food Too Much?

How many times a week do you go and buy convenience store food because you don't have time to cook, it's easy to find, or you don't feel like eating food from home. Do you ever start to think, you might be eating too much of it? While I'm typing this up, I have a plate of instant-noodles right beside me because I didn't feel like cooking at all. It's so simple to just buy food, but do we rely on it too much?

The main reason convenience store food is so popular is in its name - its convenient. Instead of having to spend a lot of time cooking, you have to just go to the store, choose what you want and buy it. We don't have a lot of time in the day, with 6 hours being spent at school and 2-3 hours spent on doing homework, it's understandable why people don't want to take the time to cook. If you ask around, you'll get answers like "It gives me time to do other things." and "It's always easy to find".

However, convenience food has some downsides. It can be really unhealthy, because it has high amounts of fat and provides little nutritional value. Eating too much of it can make you really sick. It can also be really expensive and costs you a lot more in the long run; both in money and in your health. The biggest problem with always getting convenience food is that you lose the opportunity to learn one of the most important skills in life - cooking. The amount of people I've talked to in university that say they wish they learned how to cook is appalling. This humble reporter has heard people say that "I wish I knew how to cook" and "It's really expensive and comes with too much plastic".

The reliance on convenience food has been a really big debate for a while and even though many people think it's bad, it's just as popular as ever. Convenience food has its pros and cons, and personally I think eating it minimally is the best strategy. Because, of course nothing beats homemade food. So, what do you think? Do we rely on the food and its convenience too much?