经济学人418:食物名称

 　　Food names

　　食物名称

　　Stressed are the cheesemakers

　　乳酪制造商鸭梨山大

　　Europeans want their food names back. Americans are peeved¹

　　欧洲人想要回他们的食品名称.这让老美们很不开心。

　　IN 1925 Ron Buholzer's family leftSwitzerlandand settled in lush, green, ruralWisconsin. Here, like so many Wisconsinites, his family started to make cheese. Since then four generations of cheesemakers have worked in the family firm. Their most popular product is feta, a crumbly cheese that goes well in Greek salads. Mr Buholzer worries that he may soon be banned from selling it, because the European Union is trying to “claw back” food names that Americans consider generic² but which Europeans believe should only apply to products made in specific bits of their continent. That includes feta, Parmesan and maybe even bologna.

　　1925年，Ron Buholzer家族离开了瑞士定居在繁华、富饶的威斯康辛乡间。在这儿，他的家族和很多威斯康辛本地人一样生产乳酪。从那时起，四代乳酪制造商工作在家族企业里。他们最受欢迎的产品是羊乳酪，这是一种脆蹦的乳酪，混着希腊沙拉味道可口。Buholzer担心他可能很快就要被责令不准卖这种商品了，因为欧盟正试图“弥补性回收”食品名称，这些名称在美国人看来算是同类的商品，而在欧洲人看来则应该只应用于专为部分欧洲大陆生产的产品上。这就包括了羊奶酪，帕尔马奶酪可能甚至包括大腊肠。

　　食物名称.jpg

　　Already Mr Buholzer is barred from exporting his feta toSouth Koreaif he calls it “feta”. Also, any new feta products sold in Canada that are not from Greece will soon have to be called “like” or in the “style” of feta—and not use Greek symbols. The EU is demanding protection for 145 food names, including feta, asiago, Gorgonzola,munsterand fontina.

　　Buholzer已经不被允许以“羊奶酪”命名的产品出口到南韩。同样，任何售往加拿大的心羊奶酪产品，只要不是从希腊出口的，立马改名为“类似”或“羊奶酪风格”—并且不准用希腊商标。欧盟正要求保护145种食品名称，其中包括羊奶酪，艾斯阿格芝士，戈尔根朱勒干酪，明斯特干酪以及意大利果仁味羊奶干酪。

　　American cheesemakers are unwilling³ to accept this as a feta accompli. On the contrary, they are preparing for a food fight. A group has sprung up to fight the European threat: the Consortium for Common Food Names. Negotiations⁴ over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership⁵, a proposed free-trade deal between the EU andAmerica, may stumble over the issue. The EU, meanwhile, is leaning on governments everywhere to stamp on foodmakers who purloin⁶ European names.

　　美国乳酪制造商不想接受这种事实。相反的是，他们正准备着进行一场食品抗争。他们建立了一个小组来对抗欧盟的威胁：公共食品名称联盟。在跨大西洋贸易及投资伙伴协定框架下进行谈判，欧盟和美国已达成的自由贸易协定可能会在这件事上磕磕碰碰。同时，欧盟正依靠政府部门去禁止偷窃欧洲名称的食品制造商们。

　　Americans are unimpressed. They see all this as an attempt to erect⁷ trade barriers and raise prices by reclaiming⁸ words that have long since passed into general use. Many members of Congress have urged Barack Obama's administration to resist the Europeans' demands. Some will use this as an excuse not to ratify⁹ a trade deal unless the EU gives way.

　　美国人民很不开心。他们认为这种行为属于建立贸易壁垒并且利用回收这些早已广泛使用很久的名称趁机提高价格。很多国会成员们已经敦促奥巴马政府拒绝欧洲的提议。一些人希望借助此事为借口禁止一些贸易协定的审批除非欧盟在这件事上让步。

　　Americadoes offer legal protection for foods from geographic¹⁰ regions under trademark¹¹ law. For example, Parmigiano Reggiano cannot be called that unless it really comes from the right parts ofItaly. Likewise, Americans may call fizzy wine fromCalifornia“champagne”, but that is not what it says on the bottle. There is no easy way to determine which names deserve protection. Are French fries safe? Or Italian dressing¹²? Or even that symbol of American pride, the hamburger?

　　在商标法里，美国确实为地理区域食品名称提供了法律保护。例如，除非帕尔玛干酪真正来自意大利的帕尔玛，否则不能任何叫做这个名字。同样的，美国人们也会称加州的泡沫酒为“香槟”，但是在包装瓶上没这么写。决定哪些名字应该受到保护绝不是件简单事。薯条这个名字很安全吗？意大利调味料呢？甚至是美国人民骄傲的象征，汉堡呢？

1 peeved   

adj.恼怒的，不高兴的v.（使）气恼，（使）焦躁，（使）愤怒( peeve的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sounded peeved about not being told. 没人通知他，为此他气哼哼的。
• She was very peeved about being left out. 她为被遗漏而恼怒。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 generic   

adj.一般的，普通的，共有的

参考例句：

• I usually buy generic clothes instead of name brands.我通常买普通的衣服，不买名牌。
• The generic woman appears to have an extraordinary faculty for swallowing the individual.一般妇女在婚后似乎有特别突出的抑制个性的能力。

3 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

4 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

5 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

6 purloin   

v.偷窃

参考例句：

• Each side purloins the other's private letters.双方彼此都偷对方的私人信件。
• Xiao Chen insisted that he didn't purloin.小陈坚称自己没有偷窃。

7 erect   

n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的

参考例句：

• She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头，把背挺得笔直。
• Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。

8 reclaiming   

v.开拓( reclaim的现在分词 )；要求收回；从废料中回收（有用的材料）；挽救

参考例句：

• People here are reclaiming land from the sea. 这儿的人们正在填海拓地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• How could such a man need reclaiming? 这么一个了不起的人怎么还需要别人拯救呢？ 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

9 ratify   

v.批准，认可，追认

参考例句：

• The heads of two governments met to ratify the peace treaty.两国政府首脑会晤批准和平条约。
• The agreement have to be ratify by the board.该协议必须由董事会批准。

10 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

11 trademark   

n.商标；特征；vt.注册的…商标

参考例句：

• The trademark is registered on the book of the Patent Office.该商标已在专利局登记注册。
• The trademark of the pen was changed.这钢笔的商标改了。

12 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。