2019年经济学人 鸡肉经济:鸡肉为何如此受欢迎(3)（在线收听）

Similarly, the European Union banned the import of chlorinated American chicken in 1997, owing to concern that a chlorine wash allows lower hygiene standards in farms. Arguments over chlorinated chickens also proved a big stumbling block in negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, a now-failed trade deal between America and the EU. Some Britons fear that if they leave the EU any trade deal signed with America would require them to accept imports of such chickens.

同样，欧盟在1997年禁止进口氯化美国鸡肉，因为担心用氯清洗会降低农场的卫生标准。关于氯化鸡的争论也被证明是《跨大西洋贸易与投资伙伴关系协定》谈判中的一大障碍。某些英国人担心脱欧后，与美国签署的任何贸易协议都将要求他们接受此类鸡的进口。

Although the chicken boom has been good for consumers, animal-welfare advocates worry that the meat industry’s costcutting measures have come at the expense of the birds. Vicky Bond of the Humane League, an animal-welfare campaign group, says the size of modern chickens is the cause of the worst problems. Broilers have breast muscles which are too big for their bones to support, leading to lameness. In Colchester the chickens are so unresponsive to humans that they resemble zombies. Indeed, modern chickens have become so big that their muscles prevent them from getting on top of each other to mate (meaning they have to be starved before they are able to consider romance).

尽管养鸡热潮对消费者有利，但是动物福利倡导者担心，肉类行业的成本削减措施是以牺牲禽类为代价的。动物福利运动组织人道联盟的维姬·邦德说，现代鸡的大小是造成最严重问题的原因。肉鸡的胸肌太大，骨头无法支撑，导致跛足。在科尔切斯特，鸡对人毫无反应，就像僵尸一样。事实上，现代鸡已经变得非常大，以至于其肌肉阻止相互交配（这意味着他们想要爱情必先挨饿）。

Partly because of advocacy by animalwelfare charities, and partly because meat has become so affordable, more consumers are now willing to pay for meat raised in better conditions. Sales of free-range and organic chickens, which—unlike most broilers—have access to the outdoors, are surging. In the Netherlands, a recent public outcry over enormous plofkip (which translates as “exploded chicken”) was so intense that retailers switched in droves to breeds that grow more slowly. Plofkip’s share of the Dutch market plummeted from around 60% in 2015 to 5% in 2017. In Britain sales of free-range eggs have overtaken those of caged ones.

部分原因是动物福利慈善机构的倡导，还有部分原因是鸡肉价格很低，如今，越来越多的消费者愿意为在更好条件下饲养的肉类买单。自由放养和有机鸡的销量正在飙升，而与大多数肉鸡不同的是，有机鸡可以在户外饲养。最近，荷兰公众对体型巨大的“plofkip”(意为“爆炸鸡”强烈抗议，使得零售商纷纷转向生长速度较慢的品种。Plofkip在荷兰市场的份额从2015年的60%暴跌至2017年的5%。在英国，土鸡蛋的销量已经超过了笼养鸡蛋。