美国国家公共电台 NPR Hunting Conservation Group Objects To Arby's Venison

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

Fast-food restaurants use all sorts of promotions¹ to get customers through their doors. Two-for-one deals, toy giveaways, and now, venison. Yes, Arby's is the first major fast-food chain to serve a deer-meat sandwich nationwide. It was part of a one-day event. The company is also trying out an elk² sandwich in a few locations. But as Yellowstone Public Radio's Nate Hegyi reports, a Montana conservation group has a beef with Arby's new sandwiches.

NATE HEGYI, BYLINE³: At a ranch⁴ house in rural Montana, my good friend Rick White is peeling the bun off Arby's new venison sandwich.

RICK WHITE: It looks like deer, venison.

HEGYI: His dog, Finn, is staring at the deer steak, whining⁵.

WHITE: It's a gray meat but not like a ground - doesn't look like a ground patty. Looks kind of more like a McDonald's-style but thicker.

HEGYI: Like a lot of people in Montana, Rick is a lifelong deer hunter. And he's just the kind of person Arby's wants eating their new venison- and elk-steak sandwiches. The company rolled them out last weekend as many states were starting their annual hunting season. And they even have a new ad campaign.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Arby's - we have the venison.

HEGYI: But not everyone is drooling with excitement. Dave Chadwick is executive director of the Montana Wildlife Federation⁶.

DAVE CHADWICK: We really shouldn't be selling game animals for food.

HEGYI: His organization was founded by hunters, anglers and other conservationists. Last week, they sent a letter to Arby's, asking the company to reconsider serving venison- and elk-steak sandwiches, in part because they hearken back to a long and dark history of selling wild game in the United States.

CHADWICK: One of the real drivers of America's wildlife crisis in the 19th century was unregulated market hunting and the idea that big-game animals were being shot and sold for food.

HEGYI: Market hunting drove bison, elk and other wildlife to the brink⁷ of extinction⁸ before it was eventually banned in the U.S. So it's not like Arby's is sending hunters to the woods to kill thousands of deer and elk. That would be illegal. Instead, the fast-food company is sourcing their venison from game farms in New Zealand. Here's Arby's President Rob Lynch.

ROB LYNCH: It's free-range, grass-fed red-tailed deer - the highest quality venison that you can get anywhere in the world.

HEGYI: He says it's the same venison that's served at high-end restaurants around the country.

LYNCH: You can't procure⁹ venison in the United States at scale to commercialize, so we have to go all the way to New Zealand to get this.

HEGYI: But Chadwick says game-farmed deer and elk - even if they're from New Zealand - still strike a nerve.

CHADWICK: It's still just the principle of selling an animal that most Montanans recognize and hold dear as a wild animal and, really, a symbol of the Rocky Mountain West.

HEGYI: Arby's President Rob Lynch says he respects where the Montana Wildlife Federation is coming from. But at the end of the day, it's going to be individual hunters who decide whether or not they'll take to Arby's new sandwiches - hunters like my buddy¹⁰ Rick White. He's leaning over his stove, chewing on the sandwich.

WHITE: Doesn't taste strongly of deer. I would say it would be like deer light or something. You know, like, not a Budweiser, Bud Light. It's - doesn't have that punch to it, but, you know, in a pinch, it's not a bad sandwich.

HEGYI: So at least one hunter kind of likes it. And apparently¹¹, so do a lot of others because the company says many of their locations sold out on the first day, although the Arby's I'm standing¹² in front of right now says they still have plenty of venison sandwiches left. For NPR News, I'm Nate Hegyi in Bozeman, Mont.

1 promotions   

促进( promotion的名词复数 )； 提升； 推广； 宣传

参考例句：

• All services or promotions must have an appeal and wide application. 所有服务或促销工作都必须具有吸引力和广泛的适用性。
• He promptly directed the highest promotions and decorations for General MacArthur. 他授予麦克阿瑟将军以最高的官阶和勋奖。

2 elk   

n.麋鹿

参考例句：

• I was close enough to the elk to hear its labored breathing.我离那头麋鹿非常近，能听见它吃力的呼吸声。
• The refuge contains the largest wintering population of elk in the world.这座庇护所有着世界上数量最大的冬季麋鹿群。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

5 whining   

n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚

参考例句：

• That's the way with you whining, puny, pitiful players. 你们这种又爱哭、又软弱、又可怜的赌棍就是这样。
• The dog sat outside the door whining (to be let in). 那条狗坐在门外狺狺叫着（要进来）。

6 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

7 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

8 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

9 procure   

vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条

参考例句：

• Can you procure some specimens for me?你能替我弄到一些标本吗？
• I'll try my best to procure you that original French novel.我将尽全力给你搞到那本原版法国小说。

10 buddy   

n.（美口）密友，伙伴

参考例句：

• Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气，老兄。有什么麻烦吗？
• Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了，你这家伙！

11 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

12 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。