(たべのこし)

leftover food, food left uneaten

(へらす)

to reduce; to decrease

(みせ)

shop, store

(くふう)

ingenuity; device; scheme

(れすとらん)

restaurant

(すーぱー)

supermarket

(たべもの)

food

(すてる)

to throw away; to discard

(りょう)

Quantity; amount; volume

(ひろがる)

to spread

(にほん)

Japan

(まいとし)

every year

(まだ)

still; yet

(たべる)

to eat

(しょくひん)

food products, foodstuffs

(たくさん)

a lot / many

(しょくひんろす)

food loss, food waste

(よぶ)

to call

(おおきな)

big (attrib.)

(もんだい)

problem

(ある)

a certain (some)

(しょくどう)

cafeteria; dining hall

(きゃく)

Customer; guest

(ごはん)

cooked rice; a meal

(みっつ)

three (things)

(えらぶ)

To choose; to select

(すこし)

a little

(ひと)

person / people

(ちいさい)

small

(さいず)

size

(たのむ)

to request / ask

(しょうみきげん)

best-before date

(ちかい)

near / close

(しょうひん)

goods; merchandise; product

(やすい)

cheap / inexpensive

(うる)

to sell

(うれのこり)

unsold goods, leftovers

(かう)

to buy

(かんがえかた)

way of thinking

(かわる)

to change

(かいもの)

shopping

(れいぞうこ)

refrigerator

(なか)

inside

(しゃしん)

photograph

(とる)

to take (a photo)

(おなじ)

same

(もの)

thing

(にど)

two degrees; twice

(くに)

country; the government

(ねん)

year

(はんぶん)

half

(もくひょう)

goal / target

(たてる)

to set up, to establish (a plan/goal)

is doing, has been doing (ongoing state/action)

Expresses a continuing action or resulting state. Formed with て-form + いる. Can describe an action in progress or a state resulting from a past change.

potential / can (ru-verb)

The potential form expresses ability or possibility. Here, used in the negative, it describes elderly people who cannot quit driving.

to become

Expresses a change of state; Kawai became the new commissioner of the Sports Agency.

to make sure that, to ensure that

Expresses the goal of bringing about a certain state or preventing something. Formed with verb plain form + ようにする. Often used to describe efforts to ensure or prevent something.

only ~

Limiter particle. 女性だけが宇宙船に乗りました means 'only women boarded the spaceship.'

want to ~

Verb stem + たい to express desire.

can do ..., to be able to ...

Verb dictionary form + ことができる expresses ability or possibility. More formal than the potential verb form. Common in written Japanese and announcements.

because of, due to

Indicates a reason or cause. More formal than から or ので. Can follow nouns (の + ため) or plain-form verbs/adjectives.

come toward (action approaching)

Indicates motion toward the speaker or a location. Here it describes rocks flying toward people.

before ~

Indicates doing something before another action. Used to advise checking the store before ordering.

by (a certain time)

Indicates a deadline — by February of next year, the company aims to restore shipping.

decide on / make it X

Indicates choice or theme. Here makes SF and LGBTQ the themes.

食べ残しを減らす店の工夫

Shops' clever ideas for reducing leftover food

レストランやスーパーで、食べ物を捨てる量を減らす工夫が広がっています。

At restaurants and supermarkets, clever ways of reducing the amount of food thrown away are spreading.

日本では毎年、まだ食べられる食品がたくさん捨てられています。

In Japan, a great deal of food that is still edible is thrown away every year.

これは「食品ロス」と呼ばれ、大きな問題になっています。

This is called "food loss," and it has become a major problem.

ある食堂では、客がご飯の量を三つから選べるようにしました。

At one eatery, they arranged things so that customers can choose their rice portion from three sizes.

少しだけ食べたい人は、小さいサイズを頼むことができます。

People who want to eat only a little can order the small size.

スーパーでは、賞味期限が近い商品を安く売っています。

At supermarkets, products whose best-before date is approaching are sold cheaply.

売れ残りを減らすためです。

This is in order to reduce unsold stock.

買う人の考え方も変わってきました。

The way shoppers think has also been changing.

買い物の前に、冷蔵庫の中を写真に撮る人もいます。

Some people take a photo of the inside of their refrigerator before they go shopping.

同じ物を二度買わないためです。

It is so that they do not buy the same thing twice.

国は、2030年までに食品ロスを半分にする目標を立てています。

The government has set a goal of halving food loss by 2030.