The Worldwatch Institute said in 2011 far too many people were living with less than they needed. It says, for example, nearly one billion people were hungry and just as many were illiterate.
世界观察研究所说，2011年全球有太多人生活在需求线以下。该机构举例说，将近10亿人食不裹腹，同样多的人只字不识。
Worldwatch Institute’s Danielle Nierenberg said while a billion people went to bed hungry each night, it wasn’t because of a lack of available food.
世界观察研究所的达尼埃尔.尼兰伯格说，世界上有10亿人口每天忍饥挨饿，但这并不因为食品缺乏。
“We produce more than enough food in the world to not only feed the 7 billion people who are on earth today, but 9 to 11 billion people. By 2050, we expect the population to be about 9 and a half billion people and we currently produce enough food to feed all of those people. But the question is really one of how do we get food to the people who need it the most. Poverty really impedes the progress of allowing people to eat well. Not just getting enough staple crops, but being able to buy fruits and vegetables and the things that will really nourish them,” she said.
尼兰伯格说：“我们生产的粮食不仅足够目前世界上70亿人的口粮，而且足够供养90到110亿人。到2050年，我们预计世界人口将达到95亿，而我们现在生产的粮食已经足够养活这么多人口了。但现在真正的问题是我们如何才能将粮食送到那些最需要食品的人们手中。贫穷的确妨碍了人们吃饱吃好。人们不仅要保证获得足够的粮食，还要有能力购买水果和蔬菜以及能够满足营养的其它食品。”
Wasted
The director of the Nourishing the Planet Project said besides poverty and a lack of access to food, much food is simply lost. Worldwatch estimates 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted each year.
这位全球营养项目主任说，除了贫穷和缺少获得食品的途径外，很多食品完全损失了。世界观察估计，每年被浪费掉的食品高达有13亿吨。
“Twenty to fifty percent of the global food harvest is wasted before it can ever reach people’s stomachs. And this is really a moral problem when you consider all of the people who are hungry in the world. The good news about that 20 to 50 percent of global food waste number is that it’s easy to prevent food waste. We can do it in our homes. Consumers can do a lot to prevent food waste by planning meals better, by not buying too much food. In the developing world there are storage systems that are beginning to be put in place that help farmers protect their food from crop diseases or pests or molds and fungus,” she said.
她说：“全球20%到50%收获的粮食在人们能进食前就已经被浪费了。如果考虑到全世界那些遭受饥饿的人们，浪费粮食实际上是一个道德问题。全球范围的中这20%到50%被浪费的粮食如果说有乐观的一面，那就是说这种浪费很容易避免。我们可以从自己家庭做起。消费者可以更好地计划每一餐，不要购买太多饮食， 从而防止粮食遭到浪费。在发展中国家，人们开始设立储存系统，可以帮助农民防止发生农作物病变、防虫、防霉、防真菌等危害侵袭。”
Nierenberg said prevention measures can be put in place all along the food chain.
尼兰伯格说，防范措施可以落实到食品链的每一个环节。
On the micro level
Part of the problem of malnutrition is a deficiency in micronutrients. A severe lack of Vitamin A, iron and iodine can have lifelong effects. For example, a vitamin A deficiency in children can lead to blindness. An iron deficiency in pregnant women can cause a number of complications.
营养不良问题的一部分原因在于微量营养素的缺乏。如果维生素A，铁以及碘元素严重缺乏，就会给人的一生造成影响。如果儿童缺乏维生素A，可能会造成失明。孕妇缺少铁元素可能会导致出现各种综合症。
“One of the biggest problems in the world right now is that we produce a lot of calories. We produce a lot of starchy staple crops, whether it’s rice or wheat or maize. And while that keeps people full and fed, and most of the world really depends on those starch staple crops to survive, we’re not investing as much in the production of fruits and vegetables. Those are the things that contain those essential micronutrients,” she said.
达尼埃尔.尼兰伯格说：“目前世界上最大的问题之一是人们生产了太多的热量。人们生产了太多淀粉类主食，不论是大米、小麦还是玉米。这些粮食可以让人们有饱足感也能保证人们的生存，事实上世界大多地区民众都依赖这些淀粉类粮食存活，但相比之下，我们在水果和蔬菜生产方面投资不足 ，而水果蔬菜才含有人体必须的微量营养元素。”
Nierenberg said a lack of access to nutritious food does not necessarily mean affected people are thin. It can be just the opposite. They can be overweight or even obese.
尼兰伯格说，缺少营养食品的人们并不一定就会因此消瘦，反而可能出现相反的情况，这些人可能会超重甚至造成肥胖症。
“People don’t have access to healthy, nutritious food. In the United States, we have the highest obesity rates in the world. And this is partly due because many of our citizens don’t have access to grocery stores or farmers’ markets. They live in what are called food deserts. Places where people have to travel very far to grocery stores. In most of these areas the food comes not from supermarkets, but it comes from liquor stores and convenience stores, where unhealthy foods and processed foods are sold,” she said.
她说：“有些人得不到健康和营养的食品。美国是世界上肥胖症比例最高的国家，部分是因为很多人生活范围中没有菜市场或农贸市场。他们生活的范围被称为食品沙漠。这些人要经过远途行程才能到达菜市场。在大部分这样的地区，食品并不来自超级市场，而是来自卖酒的小店和便利店，这些小店只销售不健康食品和加工食品。”
Can’t read or write
While it may not seem obvious, the Worldwatch Institute project director said malnutrition and illiteracy are closely linked.
世界观察研究所这位项目主任说，尽管看不出营养不良和文盲有明显联系，但事实上二者是紧密相联的。
“When people, especially farmers, don’t have the education that they need to live productive lives, they can’t learn new skills. And in sub-Saharan Africa, women farmers, especially, don’t have access to education. This prevents them from not only learning new cropping techniques and learning new technologies, it also prevents them from being able to access financial and banking services. They can’t have bank accounts. They can’t buy land. They can’t buy the inputs that they need to make their crops more productive,” she said.
她说：“当人们特别是农民忙于农活没有机会上学接受教育的时候，他们就没有办法学到新技术。在非洲萨哈拉沙漠以南地区，这个问题在农民妇女身上尤为突出，她们没有机会接受教育，难以学习新的种粮技巧和农业技术，当然她们就无法获得金融和银行服务，没有银行账户，没法购买土地，也无法添置有利粮食生产的工具。”
Nierenberg said despite the many challenges, Worldwatch is hopeful for the future. She says there are a growing number of innovative projects to address hunger and poverty, while at the same time protecting the environment. These include the World Food Program’s homegrown school feeding initiatives underway in Kenya, Brazil, India, Thailand and other countries. The programs put local food producers in direct contact with schools.
尼兰伯格说，尽管有这么多挑战，世界观察研究所仍然对未来抱有希望。她说，目前已经有越来越多的创新项目来解决饥饿和贫穷问题，与此同时还能顾及环境保护，这些项目包括世界粮食项目在肯尼亚、巴西、泰国以及其它国家设立的家庭养殖和学校饮食计划。这些计划能让食品生产者直接和学校挂钩。 |