密歇根新闻广播 维持密歇根州奶牛场的生存

 

Michigan's food producers are in a bind¹ right now. So many customers, so few ways to reach them. Most of the products we buy in grocery stores are still available, but COVID-19 has sparked some subtle disruptions that go beyond the point of sale. One sector² dealing³ with a disrupted supply chain is the state’s dairy industry.

Annie Link is a fourth-generation dairy farmer from Swiss Lane Farms. She joined Stateside to talk about how her farm and the Michigan dairy industry more broadly have been dealing with the crisis.

Supply chain disruptions

“About 70% of all milk was consumed through food service, restaurants, and schools, and exports. So if you combine all those markets, every single one of those is being totally disrupted right now by this pandemic.” Link explained. “Our industry is seeing right now that there’s a 10-15% over supply because we haven’t been able to shift the way the milk is being processed and where the milk is being processed. To go from food service to retail⁴ looks very different.”

Take for example the dairy products going to restaurants, Link said. Some dairy processors are used to churning out huge blocks of cheese to send to restaurants, and shifting to packaging that same cheese for individual consumers is not a simple task.

“Now you’re not getting your milk or your dairy product from Domino's or from Pizza Hut, you want it in a gallon jug⁵ or in a one-pound pouch⁶ that’s already shredded⁷. They can’t just all the sudden stop producing that big block of cheese, and then all the sudden start producing hundreds of thousands of pounds of milk into [cheese] in the little baggies.”

The cows are alright

“The one thing that’s good about all this is we do get some sort of normalcy in our day. I am very thankful for being able to work and being able to take care of the cows everyday and focusing on them, instead of all the chaos⁸ that’s going on all around us,” Link said. “Cows are very habitual⁹. They thrive when you give them a very consistent environment so a routine and systems are very important to cows.”

Possible long term impacts of the COVID-19 shutdowns

“It’s hard for me to think that this isn’t just a short or temporary thing. I think because on a global scale, I just think that the need for people to get high quality protein and high quality food is just going to keep increasing, and the way that we can innovate¹⁰ with dairy and what we can do with that and how that nutrition is good for our bodies, I think that is going to be something that’s just going to keep increasing over the future."

1 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。

2 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

5 jug   

n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂

参考例句：

• He walked along with a jug poised on his head.他头上顶着一个水罐，保持着平衡往前走。
• She filled the jug with fresh water.她将水壶注满了清水。

6 pouch   

n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件

参考例句：

• He was going to make a tobacco pouch out of them. 他要用它们缝制一个烟草袋。
• The old man is always carrying a tobacco pouch with him.这老汉总是随身带着烟袋。

7 shredded   

shred的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Serve the fish on a bed of shredded lettuce. 先铺一层碎生菜叶，再把鱼放上，就可以上桌了。
• I think Mapo beancurd and shredded meat in chilli sauce are quite special. 我觉得麻婆豆腐和鱼香肉丝味道不错。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

9 habitual   

adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的

参考例句：

• He is a habitual criminal.他是一个惯犯。
• They are habitual visitors to our house.他们是我家的常客。

10 innovate   

v.革新，变革，创始

参考例句：

• We must innovate in order to make progress.我们必须改革以便取得进步。
• It is necessary to innovate and develop military theories.创新和发展军事理论是必要的。