VOA常速英语2019--屋顶种菜：环保又经济（在线收听）

Rain is essential for life, but too much of it can lead to flooding, causing sewers to overflow and carry contaminants to nearby river systems.

雨水是生命的必需品，但雨量太大会导致洪灾，下水道会积水外溢，并将污染物带到附近的河流系统。

The city of Washington DC has an innovative way to deal with that.

华盛顿特区别出心裁解决了这个问题。

This rooftop garden on the campus of the University of the District of Columbia includes a variety of vegetation to help absorb excess rainwater and grow food at the same time.

这个屋顶花园位于哥伦比亚特区大学校园内，里面有各种植被，可以助力吸收多余的雨水，同时也可以种植食物。

Architect David Bell designed five green roofs on the campus.

建筑师大卫·贝尔为该校校园设计了5个绿色屋顶。

And we were really excited about this project, because it started to do something more than just dealing with storm water management.

我们对这个项目特别感兴趣，因为这个项目终于开始做点事情了，而不只是对暴雨水进行管理而已。

It took advantage of a resource above the city you see all over where you have these flat roofs that aren’t doing anything, and it really made it something that was about urban agriculture.

该项目利用了城市上空的一个资源，这个资源随处可见，那就是屋顶平台。屋顶平台看似无用，但也正是如此，才让它成为城市农业的一部分。

Graduate student Caitlim Arlotta says the project is part of a research initiative to see what plants are best suited for rooftop environments both for food as well as pollination.

研究生凯特利姆表示，该项目是一项研究的部分内容，该研究的目的是探索何种植被最适于种植在屋顶的环境里，从而让粮食丰收和缓解污染一举两得。

These are the tomatoes that we’re growing. We have the same experiment running with tomatoes as we do with strawberry, so we’re doing variety trials and we’re trying just to see which variety grows the best in a green roof setting.

这些是我们正在种植的西红柿。我们对西红柿和草莓做了同样的实验。我们进行了多样化的尝试，目的只是要看看哪种植被最适宜在绿色屋顶的环境里生长。

In an urban environment, you don’t have maybe all that many spaces to choose from, and so rooftops are just un- utilized space.

在城市的大环境里，或许没有没那么多空间可以选择，而屋顶却是鲜有人涉足的空间。

So it’s a really good way to not have to restructure your city necessarily, and be able to incorporate green roofs.

所以，这是个妙招——不必重新规划城市，又能有效利用绿色屋顶。

Arlotta says that the main goal of the program is to have food justice.

凯特利姆表示，该项目的主要目标是证食物公正。

So bringing fresh food into cities where you wouldn’t necessarily have that access.

这样便可以将新鲜的食材带入城市，不然，一些城市可能也没有这样的渠道。

That includes produce for immigrant members of the community as well.

其中也包括为社群移民准备的农产品。

In the US, it may not seem very common to use hibiscus leaves and sweet potato leaves as food, but in many places around the world it is.

在美国，将木槿叶和甘薯叶作为食物的做法或许并不常见，但在世界上的很多其他地方却很常见。

My biggest surprise was that we produce four thousand two hundred and fifty pounds of produce the first year, and was able to disseminate that to people in need.

我最大的惊喜就是：我们第一年产出了4250磅农产品，并将这些食物发给了有需要的人。

Sandy Farber Bendier is coordinator of the school’s Master Gardener program.

桑迪是该校园艺师计划的项目协调员。

This is the Future for Food. What we have established here at this college is food, the food hub concept of: You grow it here. You prepare it. You prepare it in a commercial kitchen. You distribute it through farmers markets, food trucks and then you recycle.

这是“粮食未来”的项目。我们在这所大学建立起了食物中心的概念，即自己种植、在商业性厨房准备食材，自己派送到各个农贸市场和卡车上，然后回收。

While DC is home to one of the largest numbers of green roofs in the country, not all of them are designed to grow food.

虽然华盛顿特区有全国最大的一些绿色屋顶，但并不是所有绿色屋顶都是用来种植食物的。

David Bill hopes that over time that will change providing a better connection to nature and better fresh food for the city.

大卫希望，随着时间的流逝，这种情况能发生改变，让人类与大自然产生更好的联系，也为城市提供更多新鲜的食材。