美国国家公共电台 NPR Rhode Island Bets The Farm That Cheap Land Will Help Local Agriculture Thrive

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Rhode Island is about to offer bargain prices on real estate. Of course there is a catch, as Stephanie Leydon from member station WGBH reports, this deal is only for farmers.

STEPHANIE LEYDON, BYLINE¹: Ben Torpey's kneeling in the dirt, putting the first of what will be his organic lettuce² crop in the ground, one bright green seedling³ after another. Customers in nearby Providence⁴, R.I., are already waiting for his first harvest. The local food movement here is thriving. And Torpey, a guy who grew up in the suburbs of New Jersey⁵, is typical of a new generation of farmers.

BEN TORPEY: Like a lot of farmers around here, I did not grow up farming, but, yeah, I just started working on farms when I was in college. And then that's what I've been doing ever since.

LEYDON: Torpey's worked this land for the past 6 years, but he doesn't own it. Along with a handful of other farmers, he leases land at a state-owned farm. It was created as a kind of incubator, a place where new farmers could launch their businesses before buying their own farms. But...

TORPEY: I haven't even looked for land to buy because it doesn't feel like a realistic possibility for me. The same thing that I'm looking for, a developer is looking for the - to buy the same field. So what I see as enough land to grow food for 130 families a developer would see as enough land to build eight McMansions.

LEYDON: The booming real estate market has driven up prices to the point where Rhode Island now has the most expensive farmland in the country. In response, the state is launching a first-of-its-kind program to buy farms at their appraised⁶ value and then sell them at an agricultural rate - about 20 percent of the market value.

KEN⁷ AYERS: We want these entrepreneurs, these spirited people who want to build an agricultural business in Rhode Island to stay here and not to have to leave to find cheaper land in some other state.

LEYDON: That's Ken Ayers, Rhode Island's agriculture chief. He says keeping farmers in Rhode Island is part of an ambitious, long-term goal. By 2060, the state wants to produce half of its own food.

AYERS: Because we are concerned about the food system in general in this country. Rhode Island probably only produces 1 to 2 percent of its own food. New England in general probably only produces about 10 percent of its own food. And we're at the end of a pipeline⁸ of food that travels to us from other parts of the U.S. and other parts of the world.

LEYDON: The idea is to make fresh food available more cheaply to more people and guard against a future in which energy to transport food or food itself could become scarce.

(SOUNDBITE OF MACHINERY⁹ WHIRRING)

LEYDON: But the program to offer farmers land at a deep discount does have strings¹⁰ attached. The land can be used only for farming. The owners couldn't, for instance, build houses on it or sell any of it to a developer. And that, say critics like State Representative Sherry Roberts, could leave farmers who run into financial trouble in a bind¹¹.

SHERRY ROBERTS: It's not fully¹² their property to do whatever they want. They cannot later go and separate that and build a house of their own and sell it and make more money.

LEYDON: But Ben Torpey says if he's chosen for this program and can buy his own land, he'll happily give up the rights to develop it. He says what he really wants is the security of knowing the land he cultivates will remain his from one season to the next. For NPR News, I'm Stephanie Leydon in Cranston, R.I.

1 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。

2 lettuce   

n.莴苣；生菜

参考例句：

• Get some lettuce and tomatoes so I can make a salad.买些莴苣和西红柿，我好做色拉。
• The lettuce is crisp and cold.莴苣松脆爽口。

3 seedling   

n.秧苗，树苗

参考例句：

• She cut down the seedling with one chop.她一刀就把小苗砍倒了。
• The seedling are coming up full and green.苗长得茁壮碧绿。

4 providence   

n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝

参考例句：

• It is tempting Providence to go in that old boat.乘那艘旧船前往是冒大险。
• To act as you have done is to fly in the face of Providence.照你的所作所为那样去行事，是违背上帝的意志的。

5 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

6 appraised   

v.估价( appraise的过去式和过去分词 )；估计；估量；评价

参考例句：

• The teacher appraised the pupil's drawing. 老师评价了那个学生的画。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He appraised the necklace at ￡1000. 据他估计，项链价值1000英镑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

8 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

9 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

10 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

11 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。

12 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。