UPSC Prelims 2023 CSAT Paper II · Q13 of 77 Comprehension medium

Passage

Passage - 3 Many people are not eating the right food. For some, it is simply a decision to stick with food they enjoy but which is not too healthy. This is leading to an increase in non-communicable diseases. This in turn leads to major burden on our health-care systems that have the potential to derail the economic progress which is essential for the poor to improve their lives. For others, it is about limited access to nutritious food or a lack of affordability, leading to monotonous diets that do not provide the daily nutrients for them to develop fully. Part of the reason nutrition is under threat worldwide is that our food systems are not properly responding to nutritional needs. Somewhere along that long road from farm to fork, there are serious detours taking place.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the crux of the passage ?

  1. (a) The scheme of Universal Basic Income should be implemented worldwide as a way of poverty alleviation.
  2. (b) We must place food-based nutrition at the centre of our policy debate. ✓ UPSC's answer
  3. (c) Nutritional status of food should be improved by creating appropriate genetically modified crops.
  4. (d) Using modern food processing technologies, we must fortify food items with required nutrient elements.

Why the answer is (b)

• The passage highlights that poor dietary choices and limited access to nutritious food are increasing non-communicable diseases and burdening health-care systems.

• It argues that this burden threatens economic progress, which is essential for poverty alleviation.

• The core problem identified is that current food systems are not properly responding to nutritional needs, causing 'detours' from farm to fork.

• Therefore, the central argument is that policy must address the nutritional quality and accessibility of food directly.

• Option (b) best reflects this by advocating for placing food-based nutrition at the center of policy debate to fix the systemic failure described.

Why the other options are wrong

(a) The scheme of Universal Basic Income should be implemented worldwide as a way of poverty…
The passage mentions economic progress and poverty only as consequences of health burdens, not as a direct argument for implementing Universal Basic Income.
(c) Nutritional status of food should be improved by creating appropriate genetically…
The text does not mention genetically modified crops or specific agricultural technologies as a solution to the nutritional crisis.
(d) Using modern food processing technologies, we must fortify food items with required…
The passage does not suggest fortifying food through modern processing technologies; it focuses on the broader failure of food systems to meet nutritional needs.

Asked in the CSAT Paper II of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2023, held on 28 May 2023. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.

Reading the answer is not the same as getting it right under a clock. Practise this question with UPSC's negative marking, and anything you miss goes into an error notebook until you get it right twice.

Practise this paper free