2015年经济学人 美国的食品政策 砰的出现

 

Food politics in America

美国的食品政策

Popped

砰的出现

Soda¹ Politics: Taking on Big Soda (and Winning). By Marion Nestle. 

软饮料策略：对付软饮料（然后取得胜利）。作者马里昂·奈斯特。

MARION NESTLE'S heavyweight polemic² against Coca—Cola and PepsiCo comes at an odd moment for the industry. Americans are drinking fewer sugary sodas³—in 2012 production was 23% below what it had been a decade earlier. Even sales of diet drinks are losing their fizz, as consumers question the merits of artificial sweeteners. From one angle, it would seem that health advocates such as Ms Nestle have won. Yet in America companies still produce 30 gallons of regular (not diet) fizzy drinks per person per year. In many countries, particularly developing ones, consumption is on the rise.

软饮料工业正处不尴不尬之际，马里昂?奈斯特对口可口可乐以及百事可乐的抨击颇具影响力。越来越少的美国人选择饮用含糖碳酸饮料—与十年前相比，2012年含糖碳酸饮料的生产减少了23%。人们甚至也失去了对膳食饮料的亲睐，因为消费者们对饮料中是否添加人工甜味剂提出了质疑。从某个角度来看，像奈斯特女士这样的健康倡导者似乎赢得了胜利。然而，美国软饮料公司每年生产的常规碳酸饮料（而非膳食饮料）人均多达30加仑。在许多国家，尤其是发展中国家，常规碳酸饮料的消费仍呈上涨趋势。

Ms Nestle, a professor at New York University, is both heartened by recent progress and dissatisfied with it. That is no surprise. Her first book, “Food Politics” (2002), remains⁴ a bible for those who bewail the power of food companies. In her new book she attacks the industry's most widely consumed, least healthy product. “Soda Politics”, she says, is a book “to inspire readers to action”. As a rallying cry, it is verbose⁵. When readers learn on page 238 that she will pick up a particular subject in chapter 25, it is with no little dismay that they realise they are only on chapter 17. But what the author wants most is to craft a meticulous⁶ guide to the producers' alleged⁷ transgressions⁸, and how to stop them.

对于最近取得的进展，奈斯特女士，这位纽约大学的教授颇受鼓舞，但并不满足于此。这也不足为奇。她的第一本书“粮食政策”依旧被那些哀叹食品企业权势的人们奉为经典。在新书中，奈斯特女士对软饮料行业消费最广，最有害健康的产品进行了抨击。《软饮料策略》这本书旨在激励人们采取行动，奈斯特说到。然而作为战斗口号，却显得颇为繁冗。读者们在第238页了解到奈斯特将在第25章讲述一个特别的主题，却意识到自己才看到第17章，但他们并没有因此而沮丧。作者最想做的是拟定一份详细的指南，指出生产商曾经的过失，并想方设法阻止他们的这种行为。

Ms Nestle says she would have no quibbles with sweet fizzy drinks if they were sipped⁹ occasionally, as a treat. However, for millions of people in many countries, they are not. In Mexico companies sold 372 cans of fizzy drinks per person in 2012. About half of Americans do not drink them regularly, but those who do are disproportionately poor, less educated, male, Hispanic or black. Ten per cent of Americans down more than four cans a day.

奈斯特说如果人们只是在吃饭招待的时候偶尔饮用加了甜味剂的碳酸饮料，她不会提出异议。但实际上许多国家，成千上万的人们都在喝这种饮料。2012年，仅墨西哥人均消费的碳酸饮料就高达372罐。大约一半的美国人不会经常性地饮用碳酸饮料，但是那些选择碳酸饮料的人多半是些穷困潦倒，未接受良好教育的西班牙或者黑人男性。百分之十的美国人平均每天要喝掉至少4罐碳酸饮料。

Drinking a lot of sweet fizzy drinks is plainly unhealthy. Unlike a Big Mac, they have no nutritional¹⁰ value; nor do their calories satisfy hunger. One large study found that for each can added to a person's daily diet, the risk of diabetes¹¹ jumped by 22%. There are also links between sugar and heart disease, stroke and cancer. Drinking lots of sodas imposes clear costs on individuals, Ms Nestle argues, but it has a broader cost, too. American taxpayers¹² subsidise corn production (and thereby¹³ corn syrup) and let the poor use government food vouchers¹⁴ to buy fizzy drinks. More important, taxpayers foot the health bill for those who develop chronic¹⁵ disease.

很显然，过度饮用碳酸饮料对身体健康是有害的。与巨无霸不同的是，这些碳酸饮料毫无营养价值，它们产生的热量也无法抵抗饥饿。一项大型研究表明，如果在日常饮食中加入碳酸饮料，那么人们罹患糖尿病的风险就会增加22%。心脏病，中风以及癌症与过多的糖分摄入不无关系。奈斯特说，大量饮用碳酸饮料会增加个人开支，但实际上个人花费要远大于此。美国的纳税人为玉米生产做出了贡献（也就是为玉米糖浆的生产做出了贡献），同时，他们让穷人用政府提供的食品券来购买碳酸饮料。更重要的是，纳税人为那些罹患慢性疾病的人支付医疗帐单。

Encouraging people to drink fewer fizzy drinks, however, is fiendishly difficult. Soda companies spend billions on marketing¹⁶; it is a tribute to the admen that Coca—Cola is one of the world's best—loved brands, despite selling what is essentially¹⁷ fattening¹⁸ sugar—water. (Think of Coca—Cola's encouragements to “open happiness” and PepsiCo's exuberant¹⁹ spokeswoman, Beyoncé Knowles.) Once people get used to consuming sugary drinks, they are loth to give them up. There is evidence suggesting that sugar is addictive—some laboratory animals prefer sugar to cocaine²⁰.

然而，鼓励人们尽量少喝碳酸饮料却出奇的难。碳酸饮料企业在营销上花费巨资。尽管可口可乐售卖的实际上是令人增肥的糖水饮料，但可口可乐无疑是世界上最受消费者青睐的品牌之一。而这对于广告人而言，是件可喜可贺的事情。（想想可口可乐颇具鼓动性的广告语“开启幸福”，百事可乐活力四射的代言人碧昂丝·诺利斯。）人们一旦习惯了消费含糖饮料，便很难戒掉。有证据表明食糖是会上瘾的—与可卡因相比，实验室的动物们更喜欢食糖。

Most interesting, fizzy—drink companies are skilled at swatting away attempts at regulation. Ms Nestle describes an extraordinarily²¹ broad team of allies. That includes obvious friends, such as employees, bottlers and distributors, as well as the restaurants, cinemas, shops and sports stadiums that sell their products. But the companies are also astute²² philanthropists. When Michael Bloomberg, then mayor of New York, tried to block the use of government vouchers to buy sodas in 2010, the congressional black caucus²³ was among those to lobby against it. The caucus's foundation has received money from both Coke and Pepsi. In 2011 Philadelphia was considering a soda tax. After the soda lobby offered a big donation to the city's children's hospital, the idea fizzled out.

更有趣的是，碳酸饮料企业对规避规范化的尝试颇有一套。奈斯特将其描述为一个非比寻常的庞大联盟。很显然，这个联盟包括了这些企业的盟友们，比如雇员，瓶装工，经销商，那些出售他们商品的饭店，电影院，商店以及体育场。但这些碳酸饮料企业同时也是非常精明的慈善家。2010年，当时的纽约市市长迈克尔?布隆伯格试图阻止人们用政府代金券购买碳酸饮料，但却遭到了包括美国国会黑人同盟在内的多数人的反对。2011年，费城考虑是否要征收碳酸饮料税，但在碳酸饮料游说集团出资捐助了一家当地的儿童医院之后，这项提议未能实施。

Coca—Cola and PepsiCo do have a few notable adversaries²⁴. Mr Bloomberg, a billionaire, remains their single biggest foe²⁵. It is telling that in two rare instances when a soda tax has been passed—in Berkeley, California and in Mexico—it was with the help of cash from Mr Bloomberg. Drinks companies must also reckon with a small army of health advocates, among which Ms Nestle is a major—general.

可口可乐和百事可乐确实有一些颇为出名的对手。布隆伯格，这位亿万富翁是他们最大的对手。据说在两个颇为罕见的通过征收碳酸饮料税的例子中—一个是加利福尼亚的伯克利市，另一个是墨西哥—都是在布隆伯格的资金帮助下通过了碳酸饮料税法案。饮料公司还得去对付那些以奈斯特为首的健康军团。

With the slow decline of soda in America, she and her allies are advancing. Coca—Cola and PepsiCo are peddling²⁶ healthier drinks, such as bottled water. However, as they try to face down a long—term threat while maintaining near—term profits, they are still pushing their syrupy fare.

随着美国人慢慢地拒绝碳酸饮料，奈斯特和她的盟友们正向成功一步步迈进。可口可乐和百事可乐正忙于推销更健康的饮料，如瓶装水。然而，他们仍旧努力推动碳酸饮料事业的发展，试图在维持短期利润的同时，努力克服长期以来的威胁。

Ms Nestle is impatient. To the casual reader, her suggestions can seem extreme. She writes enthusiastically about adorning²⁷ soda cans with warning labels, such as pictures of a diabetic's foot ulcer²⁸. She suggests that parents should teach their children about fizzy drinks by gently boiling down a Coke or a Pepsi into sludge, which sounds rather fun, and asking them to calculate the precise length of grocery shelves bearing sodas, which sounds less so. This zeal²⁹ threatens to overshadow her stronger points: fizzy drinks offer no nutritional benefit and impose clear costs—on individuals' health and on society.

奈斯特女士可没那么好的耐心。对于一般的读者，她给的建议似乎很极端。在书中她强烈建议碳酸饮料瓶上面必须贴有糖尿病患者脚部溃烂诸如此类的警示标志。她建议父母们在向孩子们介绍碳酸饮料时，将可口可乐和百事可乐说成是垃圾，这看上去颇为有趣，并要求孩子们去算算杂货店摆满碳酸饮料的货架究竟有多长，这听上去似乎没那么好笑了。这份热情让斯耐特关于碳酸饮料的观点显得不那么重要了：碳酸饮料没有任何营养价值，对个人的健康没有好处，而且还增加了社会的负担。

1 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

2 polemic   

n.争论，论战

参考例句：

• He launched into a fierce polemic against the government's policies.他猛烈地抨击政府的政策。
• He wrote a splendid polemic in my favour.他写了一篇出色的文章为我辩护。

3 sodas   

n.苏打( soda的名词复数 )；碱；苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• There are plenty of sodas in the refrigerator. 冰箱里有很多碳酸饮料。 来自辞典例句
• Two whisky and sodas, please. 请来两杯威士忌苏打。 来自辞典例句

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 verbose   

adj.用字多的；冗长的；累赘的

参考例句：

• His writing is difficult and often verbose.他的文章很晦涩，而且往往篇幅冗长。
• Your report is too long and verbose.你的报告太长太罗嗦了。

6 meticulous   

adj.极其仔细的，一丝不苟的

参考例句：

• We'll have to handle the matter with meticulous care.这事一点不能含糊。
• She is meticulous in her presentation of facts.她介绍事实十分详细。

7 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

8 transgressions   

n.违反，违法，罪过( transgression的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many marine transgressions occur across coastal plains. 许多海运是横越滨海平原。 来自辞典例句
• For I know my transgressions, and my sin always before me. 因为我知道我的过犯，我的罪常在我面前。 来自互联网

9 sipped   

v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sipped his coffee pleasurably. 他怡然地品味着咖啡。
• I sipped the hot chocolate she had made. 我小口喝着她调制的巧克力热饮。 来自辞典例句

10 nutritional   

adj.营养的，滋养的

参考例句：

• A diet lacking in nutritional value will not keep a person healthy.缺乏营养价值的饮食不能维持人的健康。
• The labels on food products give a lot of information about their nutritional content.食品上的标签提供很多关于营养成分的信息。

11 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

12 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

13 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

14 vouchers   

n.凭证( voucher的名词复数 )；证人；证件；收据

参考例句：

• These vouchers are redeemable against any future purchase. 这些优惠券将来购物均可使用。
• This time we were given free vouchers to spend the night in a nearby hotel. 这一次我们得到了在附近一家旅馆入住的免费券。 来自英语晨读30分（高二）

15 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

16 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

17 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

18 fattening   

adj.（食物）要使人发胖的v.喂肥( fatten的现在分词 )；养肥（牲畜）；使（钱）增多；使（公司）升值

参考例句：

• The doctor has advised him to keep off fattening food. 医生已建议他不要吃致肥食物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We substitute margarine for cream because cream is fattening. 我们用人造黄油代替奶油，因为奶油会使人发胖。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 exuberant   

adj.充满活力的；（植物）繁茂的

参考例句：

• Hothouse plants do not possess exuberant vitality.在温室里培养出来的东西，不会有强大的生命力。
• All those mother trees in the garden are exuberant.果园里的那些母树都长得十分茂盛。

20 cocaine   

n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂）

参考例句：

• That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
• Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。

21 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

22 astute   

adj.机敏的，精明的

参考例句：

• A good leader must be an astute judge of ability.一个优秀的领导人必须善于识别人的能力。
• The criminal was very astute and well matched the detective in intelligence.这个罪犯非常狡猾，足以对付侦探的机智。

23 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

24 adversaries   

n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• That would cause potential adversaries to recoil from a challenge. 这会迫使潜在的敌人在挑战面前退缩。 来自辞典例句
• Every adversaries are more comfortable with a predictable, coherent America. 就连敌人也会因有可以预料的，始终一致的美国而感到舒服得多。 来自辞典例句

25 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。

26 peddling   

忙于琐事的，无关紧要的

参考例句：

• He worked as a door-to-door salesman peddling cloths and brushes. 他的工作是上门推销抹布和刷子。
• "If he doesn't like peddling, why doesn't he practice law? "要是他不高兴卖柴火，干吗不当律师呢？

27 adorning   

修饰，装饰物

参考例句：

• Many have gems adorning their foreheads, and gold bands on their arms. 许多人在前额上挂着宝石，手臂上戴着金饰。
• The commandments, or rules, are like pure white pearls adorning the wearer. （喻）戒律洁白，可以庄严人身，好像晶莹可爱的宝珠。

28 ulcer   

n.溃疡，腐坏物

参考例句：

• She had an ulcer in her mouth.她口腔出现溃疡。
• A bacterium is identified as the cause for his duodenal ulcer.一种细菌被断定为造成他十二指肠溃疡的根源。

29 zeal   

n.热心，热情，热忱

参考例句：

• Revolutionary zeal caught them up,and they joined the army.革命热情激励他们，于是他们从军了。
• They worked with great zeal to finish the project.他们热情高涨地工作，以期完成这个项目。