2021年经济学人 气候变化将如何影响美食？（在线收听）

Europe

欧洲版块

Global warming and food

全球变暖与食物

Hot cuisine

“热菜”

How will climate change affect gastronomy?

气候变化将如何影响美食？

Farmers in southern Italy are cultivating avocados and mangos.

意大利南部的农民正在种植牛油果和芒果。

Tropical creatures such as the rabbitfish are turning up in Mediterranean nets.

像兔鱼这样的热带生物正出现在地中海的渔网中。

And Bordeaux winemakers fret that their Merlot grapes may become extinct.

波尔多酿酒商担心他们的梅洛葡萄可能会灭绝。

Fifty years ago all this would have been unthinkable.

50年前，这一切都是不可想象的。

But since the early 1980s rising temperatures have forced some farmers to swap grapes for passion fruit.

但自20世纪80年代初以来，不断上升的气温迫使一些农民将葡萄换成了百香果。

Italy and France have long been proud of their cuisines.

意大利和法国长期以来一直以美食为荣。

Both countries jealously guard the rules that say only ham made in Parma can be called “Prosciutto di Parma”, and only fizzy wine made in Champagne can be called champagne.

这两个国家都小心翼翼地捍卫着这样的原则，只有帕尔马产的火腿才能被称为“帕尔马火腿”，只有产自香槟-阿登大区的起泡葡萄酒才能被称为香槟。

Roquefort, that most celebrated of blue cheeses, was given special protection by the parliament of Toulouse in 1550.

1550年，最著名的蓝色奶酪洛克福受到图卢兹议会的特别保护。

The fact of having been grown somewhere famous has traditionally been seen as a guarantee of quality.

在有名的地方种植一直被视为质量的保证。

But climate change could upset that.

但气候变化可能会打破这一点。

Take polenta, a popular Italian dish consisting almost entirely of ground maize.

以玉米粥为例，这是一道很受欢迎的意大利菜，几乎全部由磨碎的玉米粉制成。

High temperatures and drier weather have already reduced maize yields in southern Italy.

高温和更干燥的天气已经降低了意大利南部的玉米产量。

If this pattern continues and spreads northwards, will Italian polenta-makers have to order their maize from elsewhere?

如果这种模式继续向北蔓延，是不是意大利玉米粥制造商就不得不从其他地方订购玉米呢？

And what about durum wheat, which grows abundantly in Mediterranean lands and is used to make pasta, flatbreads and couscous?

那么盛产于地中海地区，被用来制作意大利面、扁面包和粗麦粉的硬质小麦呢？

Modelling suggests that durum yields will sharply fall there if the temperature keeps on rising.

气候模型显示，如果气温持续上升，那里的硬质小麦产量将大幅下降。

So should gourmands worry about the future of spaghetti?

那么，美食家们应该担心意大利面的未来吗？

Gabriele Cola, a researcher at Milan University, is optimistic about the short term.

米兰大学研究员加布里埃尔·科拉对短期前景仍持乐观态度。

“I don’t see crops at serious risk, because farming is more informed and technologically capable, so it can always respond to changes,” he says.

他说：“我认为农作物不会面临严重的风险，因为农场经营主更有见识，技术能力过硬，可以应对各种气候变化。”

Increased irrigation can counter the effects of drought.

增加灌溉可以抵消干旱的影响。

Scientists may also breed more resistant varieties of crops.

科学家还可能培育出更具抗性的作物品种。

But in the long run deeper change seems likely.

但从长远来看，更深层次的变化似乎是有可能发生的。

If temperatures rise unabated, farmers in northern Europe may find they can grow southern staples; polenta may invade Germany.

如果气温持续上升，北欧的农民可能会发现他们可以种植南部的主食；玉米粥可能会入侵德国。

And southern locavores may have to adapt.

而南方的本地人不得不适应这一情况。

If tropical fruit continues to thrive in Sicily, could ham and pineapple pizza one day be considered authentically Italian?

如果热带水果继续在西西里岛茁壮成长，火腿菠萝披萨会有一天被认为是正宗的意大利菜吗？