VOA慢速英语2014 Program Provides Food, Farming Education to Urban Poor 为城市贫民提供食物和农业教育

 

Program Provides Food, Farming Education to Urban Poor 为城市贫民提供食物和农业教育

Welcome to American Mosaic¹. I'm June Simms.

In many U.S. cities people live in neighborhoods considered "food deserts."  These are areas where healthy, fresh foods are not easily available.  An organization in the nation’s capital is working in one neighborhood to improve its access to health foods. Milagros Ardin reports.

In Washington D.C.’s historic² LeDroit Park neighborhood, finding³ fresh food that is not too costly⁴ can be difficult.  About one-third of the neighborhood’s residents⁵ live in poverty.  The nearest grocery store is more than 1.5 kilometers away.

But a community farm is trying to solve the problem by providing food and education through programs on food production, healthy eating and environmental responsibility.  Anita Adalja runs the farm.

"Not only they know how to grow their own food, we start from seed to harvest to weeding, composting.  There are workshops on canning food preservation⁶, beekeeping, herbalism, health and nutrition.  So not only do they get to educate themselves on that process of food system, but we also distribute up to 15 pounds ((6.8 kg)) of produce per week, per family."

Since 2007, Common Good City Farm has taught more than 1,100 residents in its workshops. The farm has involved more than 2,000 school children and accepted the help of more than 2,500 volunteers. 

Anita Adalja says last year the farm provided⁷ more than 2,200 kilograms of fresh fruits and vegetables to the community.

"At Common Good we tried to stick to 85-15, so 85 percent of the food we grow are distributed within the community, then 15 percent we sell to local restaurants and a mobile⁸ farmers' market that comes once a week."

Companies donate seeds to the farm.  They are also harvested from the farm’s greenhouse⁹.  Community members, staff and volunteers grow them in a garden built on an old baseball field.

Cassie Hoffman likes the idea of an urban garden that is not only beneficial to the community, but also to the participants.

"I can spend an hour cutting salad greens and slip into a purely¹⁰ meditative¹¹ state where I’m not even thinking about anything in particular. 

I kind of like it, just because I do a lot of other research and number crunching¹², sitting in front of the computer a lot of the other times.”

Fifteen-year-old Eliamani Ismail has been volunteering for more than two years. She believes the community around the farm will enjoy a healthier life.

"I think it’s absolutely fantastic. They really teach people about how their food gets to them and how to properly eat and properly grow things and that’s what a lot of, especially Americans need nowadays because we have the obesity¹³ problem."

 

And developing healthy customs requires an early start. Youth director Elizabeth Packer is taking children to harvest eggplants grown in the past few months. Then they cook the Italian dish eggplant parmigiana in an outdoor kitchen.  It immediately becomes a favorite.

1 mosaic   

n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的

参考例句：

• The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面。
• The image mosaic is a troublesome work.图象镶嵌是个麻烦的工作。

2 historic   

adj.历史上著名的，具有历史意义的

参考例句：

• This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。

3 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

4 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

5 residents   

n.居民( resident的名词复数 )；（旅馆的）住宿者

参考例句：

• Plans to build a new mall were deep-sixed after protests from local residents. 修建新室内购物中心的计划由于当地居民反对而搁浅。
• Local residents have reacted angrily to the news. 当地居民对这一消息表示愤怒。

6 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

7 provided   

conj.假如，若是；adj.预备好的，由...供给的

参考例句：

• Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天气良好，我们的假日将过得非常愉快。
• I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨，我就来。

8 mobile   

adj.可移动的，易变的，机动的；n.运动物体

参考例句：

• The old lady sits on a mobile chair every morning.那位老妇人每天上午坐在一把可携带使用的椅子上。
• She's much more mobile now that she's bought a car.自从她买了汽车后，活动量就大多了。

9 greenhouse   

n.花房，温室，玻璃暖房

参考例句：

• Behind the green house was a greenhouse.在那所绿房子后面是一个花房。
• The tomatoes were grown in the greenhouse.这些西红柿是在温室栽培的。

10 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

11 meditative   

adj.沉思的，冥想的

参考例句：

• A stupid fellow is talkative;a wise man is meditative.蠢人饶舌，智者思虑。
• Music can induce a meditative state in the listener.音乐能够引导倾听者沉思。

12 crunching   

v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的现在分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄

参考例句：

• The horses were crunching their straw at their manger. 这些马在嘎吱嘎吱地吃槽里的草。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog was crunching a bone. 狗正嘎吱嘎吱地嚼骨头。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。