2019年经济学人 改善快餐连锁店形象的25年之战 (2)

 

Accomplishing change is not just a matter of the company snapping its fingers.

实现改变并不仅仅是公司打个响指的问题。

Most McDonald's restaurants are operated by franchisees¹ and its goods are bought from a wide range of suppliers,

麦当劳的大部分餐厅都由特许经营者经营，其商品则是从许多不同供应商处购买，

so three or four layers may separate the McDonald's head office and the cattle-rancher who supplies the firm's beef.

所以三四层结构或许可以将麦当劳的总公司和为公司提供牛肉的牧场主分隔开。

In the late 1990s, after complaints from campaign groups about the living conditions of hens,

20世纪90年代末，活动组织对母鸡生活环境进行投诉后

Mr Langert visited an egg facility to find that conditions were indeed terrible.

兰杰特参观了一个鸡蛋设备厂并发现那里的条件确实很糟糕。

In August 2000 the firm said it would buy eggs only from suppliers that gave hens 72 square inches of space,

2000年8月，该公司表示其将仅从为母鸡提供72平方英寸生活空间的供应商处购买鸡蛋，

compared with an industry average of 48 square inches. Suppliers resisted so strongly that McDonald's had to find new sources for its eggs.

而业内平均面积为48平方英寸。供应商们强烈抗议，麦当劳不得不寻找新的鸡蛋源。

But those who complied found that the mortality rates of hens decreased and egg-laying rates increased, offsetting² the extra costs.

但是那些符合要求的供应商们发现母鸡的死亡率下降了并且产蛋率上升了，额外成本得以抵消。

Mr Langert found it took a long time to get agreement within the company on a particular subject and then to persuade suppliers to comply.

兰杰特发现从公司内部就某一主题达成协议到说服供应商遵循这些规定要花费很长的时间。

But once he reached that stage, he had enormous clout³;

但是一旦他达到那个阶段，就会有巨大的影响力；

McDonald's is the largest purchaser of beef and pork in America, as well as the second-largest buyer of chicken.

麦当劳是美国最大的牛肉和猪肉购买方，也是鸡肉的第二大买家。

Another victory was persuading a supplier to phase out the use of gestation⁴ stalls for sows which make it impossible for the animals to move.

另一个胜利是说服一供应商逐步淘汰使用母猪妊娠舍，在妊娠舍内的动物无法活动。

Human working conditions also caused the company trouble.

人类工作环境也引发了公司问题。

One day Mr Langert got a call from a Catholic bishop⁵ who was concerned about the low wages paid to tomato-pickers.

一天，兰杰特接到了一名天主教主教的电话，他对摘西红柿工作者的低工资表示担忧。

Another issue was the use of "trans fats" to cook the restaurant's fries, which were deemed to increase the risk of heart disease;

另一个是连锁店使用“反式脂肪”炸薯条的问题，这样被认为会增加心脏病风险；

it took six years for the chain to phase out the practice. But the company has also added more salads and healthy options.

公司花了6年时间让连锁店逐步淘汰了这种做法。但是公司也增加了更多沙拉和健康选择。

Was all the effort worth it? It seems likely that many of the people who care a lot about these issues would never eat a fast-food burger in the first place.

这些努力都值得吗？似乎可能很多非常关心这些问题的人根本不会吃快餐汉堡。

But Mr Langert did more than most to reduce environmental waste and animal cruelty. A decent career record for an obviously decent man.

但是在减少环境垃圾和动物虐待上，兰杰特做的比大部分人都多。对一位正派人士而言，这是一份体面的履历。

1 franchisees   

n.特许经营人( franchisee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Works on these franchisees' facilities were moving ahead rapidly. 这些专营设施的工程正迅速推展。 来自互联网
• Another good source of information about a franchise is other franchisees. 另一个了解特许经营的可靠信息源是其他经营者。 来自互联网

2 offsetting   

n.偏置法v.抵消( offset的现在分词 )；补偿；（为了比较的目的而）把…并列（或并置）；为（管道等）装支管

参考例句：

• Dealers, having concluded a forward contract, should always hedge with an offsetting contract. 外汇经营商在签订了一项远期合同之后总是应进行套头交易签订一项相抵合同。 来自辞典例句
• Where does Germany think offsetting shifts into greater external deficits might occur? 在德国看来，这么大的外部赤字应该转移到哪里？ 来自互联网

3 clout   

n.用手猛击；权力，影响力

参考例句：

• The queen may have privilege but she has no real political clout.女王有特权，但无真正的政治影响力。
• He gave the little boy a clout on the head.他在那小男孩的头部打了一下。

4 gestation   

n.怀孕；酝酿

参考例句：

• The gestation period can be anything between 95 and 150 days.妊娠期从95天至150天不等。
• This film was two years in gestation.这部电影酝酿了两年。

5 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。