VOA慢速英语2014 AS IT IS 2014-02-15 One Billion Tons of Food Wasted Each Year 全球每年浪费粮食超过10亿吨

 

AS IT IS 2014-02-15 One Billion Tons of Food Wasted Each Year 全球每年浪费粮食超过10亿吨

Hello, and welcome to As It Is from VOA Learning English!  I’m Katherine Cole in Washington. 

Food waste is a problem around the world, especially in wealthy nations.  Studies estimate that between 30 and 40 percent of the food in wealthy countries is thrown away every year. 

At the same time, millions of people in the world do not have enough to eat.  Christopher Cruise will join us today to investigate some of these issues.

Later in the show, Karen Leggett will report on what farmers in the United States are doing to reduce food waste.

But first, here is Christopher Cruise.

More Than One Billion Tons of Food Wasted Each Year                          

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says more than a billion tons of food is wasted each year.  Much of that waste happens in wealthy nations, but it happens in developing countries as well. 

Even as all this food is being wasted, it is estimated that one billion people are undernourished, and hundreds of millions of people go to sleep hungry each day.

Danielle Nierenberg is the co-founder and president of Food Tank, an organization that studies food issues.

“A lot of people in the world -- one out of eight people -- are hungry.  And at the same time we have around 1.5 billion people who are obese¹.  So, that excess has consequences not just on our waistlines, but on the environment, on our food security and a whole range of other factors.”

Ms. Nierenberg says much of the food waste in the developing world is caused by poor infrastructure², like bad roads and storage areas that are too small.

In wealthy nations, people are to blame because they buy more than they can eat.  Ms. Nierenberg also blames dates that are printed on food containers.  These dates tell buyers and sellers what date the food should be sold or eaten by.  She says these dates cause people to throw away food too soon.

VOA spoke³ with Ms. Nierenberg when she was in Milan, Italy.  She was attending the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition yearly meeting.  Officials at the meeting released what they call the Milan Protocol⁴.  The document calls on international leaders and policymakers to improve food security.

“It not only focuses on food waste, but creating better and more- sustainable agriculture systems, as well as focusing on unhealthy lifestyles and really helping⁵ reduce the epidemic⁶ of obesity⁷ and overweight that is plaguing not just rich countries, but poor countries as well.”

Ms. Nierenberg says the amount of food wasted each year shows there is already enough food to feed the planet.

“The problem of hunger in the world is not one of not having enough food.  We produce more than enough food for every man, woman and child to eat every day.  Yet, it’s political reasons.  It’s poverty, certainly, that prevents food from getting to people who need it the most.”

I’m Christopher Cruise.

You are listening to As It Is from VOA Learning English.  I’m Katherine Cole.

A lot of people look at the United States as a rich country.  Yet many American farmers are struggling financially.  How do they deal with wasted food and unused crops?  As Karen Leggett reports, some are using social media to help solve the problem.

 

Social Media Helps Farmers

The United States Department of Agriculture found that more than half of the small farms in California do not make a profit.

One California farm family is using social media in an effort to change the situation and reduce wasted food.  Nick Papadopoulos is general manager of Bloomfield Farms in Sonoma County.  It was difficult for him to watch his employees returning from several weekend farmers’ markets with top quality, unsold produce.  Mr. Papadopoulos said he would find boxes of leafy greens, herbs and carrots left in a storage area.  The vegetables would go bad before the next market day.

As a result, Mr. Papadopoulos came up with a plan to offer the food at a low price by advertising⁸ it on the farm’s Facebook status page on Sunday nights.

“We’re going to put ‘Breaking news!  Crop mob.  Two pallets of Bloomfield Farms’ organic veggies, $150 dollars per pallet.’” 

The deals were open to anyone using the social media website.  One week, several homeowners in a neighboring community bought the vegetables.  Another week, the buyers were a group of friends. 

Nick Papadopoulos began using social media after he went to work on a farm belonging to his wife’s father.  One night he began thinking about the issue of wasted food when he could not find a place to donate 32 cases of organic broccoli⁹.  He ended up giving some of the food to chickens and using the rest to make fertilizer.

“I don’t believe we should let it go to waste.  I believe we should share it, donate it, whatever it takes to get it out there, and if possible - as farmers - we would like to recover a small portion of our cost.” 

After his success of using Facebook, Mr. Papadopoulos helped to set up a website called cropmobster.com.  It is a place where people involved with food production, feeding the hungry and those who want to buy locally-grown food can find surplus produce.

Have you ever used the Internet to buy or sell crops?  If so, tell us about your experience.  You can leave a message on our Facebook page or visit our website, learningenglish.voanews.com.  

I’m Karen Leggett.

When you visit our website, click on “Contact Us” to tell us what you want to hear about on a future show.  You can also read, listen to and download our programs.  You will also find podcasts, captioned¹⁰ videos and lessons to test your English skills.

That’s our program for today.  I'm Katherine Cole.  Thanks so much for listening!  Join us again tomorrow for another As It Is from VOA Learning English. 

1 obese   

adj.过度肥胖的，肥大的

参考例句：

• The old man is really obese,it can't be healthy.那位老人确实过于肥胖了，不能算是健康。
• Being obese and lazy is dangerous to health.又胖又懒危害健康。

2 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

7 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。

8 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

9 broccoli   

n.绿菜花，花椰菜

参考例句：

• She grew all the broccoli plants from seed.这些花椰菜都是她用种子培育出来的。
• They think broccoli is only green and cauliflower is only white.他们认为西兰花只有绿色的，而菜花都是白色的。

10 captioned   

a.标题项下的； 标题所说的

参考例句：

• This paper reviews the production, development and nationalization of the captioned materials. 本文就铜系合金引线框架材料的生产、发展和国产化进程作一论述。
• Please advise other considerable hotels for this captioned group. 请推荐其它一些高级的旅馆给这一群打标语的人。