The struggle to feed care home residents

Nick's ESL News Lessons

A printable worksheet for news-based English conversation classes.

Date: 2026/08/27

Difficulty: Upper Intermediate B2

PDF: The struggle to feed care home residents

Vocabulary Match

replacements •• constant
suspended •• paused
exhaustion •• huge
immense •• weak
relentless •• tiredness
vulnerable •• substitutes

Vocabulary Answers

replacementssubstitutes
suspendedpaused
exhaustiontiredness
immensehuge
relentlessconstant
vulnerableweak

Article

At Yoko no Sono, a care home in Odawara, the kitchen staff face a daily struggle. The small team prepares meals for 120 residents, doing hard physical work like lifting heavy pots.

Recently, two workers from Myanmar left. Finding replacements is almost impossible because the government suddenly suspended new 'food service' visas for foreign workers. The home hired three Japanese workers in their 70s, but all quit within two months due to exhaustion.

This policy leaves the remaining cooks under immense strain. Working relentless overtime, they worry constantly about feeding the vulnerable residents who rely on them.

Quiz

  1. How many residents does Yoko no Sono care for?
  2. Why is it almost impossible to replace the workers who left?
  3. What happened when the home hired three Japanese workers?
  4. What is the main concern of the remaining cooks?

Quiz Answers (examples)

  1. 120 residents
  2. Because the government suddenly suspended new 'food service' visas for foreign workers.
  3. They all quit within two months due to exhaustion.
  4. Feeding the vulnerable residents who rely on them.

Conversation

A:Can you believe the government suspended the visas?
B:I know, it's making our work so much harder.
A:We tried hiring locals, but they couldn't keep up.
B:Yeah, they quit after just two months.
A:Now we're stuck with overtime and no end in sight.
B:Let's hope they change the policy soon, or we're cooked!

Discussion

  1. What is the biggest group of people you have ever cooked for?
  2. If you had to feed 120 people tonight and could only make one dish, what would you cook?
  3. If you could hire a chef from any country, which would it be and why?
  4. Would you rather cook meals in a care home or in an elementary school? Why?

Source Material

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260820/p2a/00m/0bu/018000c

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