VOA标准英语2012--Hunger and Obesity Are Food Security Issues

 

Hunger and Obesity¹ Are Food Security Issues

The U.N. says nearly a billion people go to bed hungry every night. At the same time, hundreds of millions of others are obese². An activist³ and author says solving those twin crises depends on knowing who’s wielding⁴ the power over food and marketing⁵.

Raj Patel is the author of Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System. He says hunger and obesity are not just a matter of eating too little or too much. He said it has to do with what people are eating and the systems and institutions driving consumption.

“I have a very personal connection to the power in the food system. First of all, my parents are convenience store owners. So they sell the sweets and the fats and the sugars that are making the world more overweight. But at the same time my family is also suffering the consequences. There isn’t a man over 50 in my family who doesn’t have diabetes⁶,” he said.

Patel is a fellow at the Institute for Food and Development Policy in Oakland, California and an honorary research fellow at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.

There’s growing investment in agriculture around the world to feed an expected population of 9 billion by 2050. But as emerging economies grow in Africa and Asia, consumers in those regions are switching to a more Western diet. It’s a diet many blame for obesity, as well as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

However, many others say that people have a choice as to what to eat. They don’t have to buy foods rich in fat, salt and sugar.

“The issue of choice is one that is often thrown around when it comes to power in the food system and really understanding this as a parent. Because as a parent we’re told that parents are the people who bring up children to make sensible choices. And I think that’s right. But if we’re going to be able to raise kids to make sensible choices in the food system then as parents we need a level playing field,” he said.

However, Patel said that’s not happening.

“When you look at the amount of money that is spent promoting food, the ratio of good food to junk food marketing is about 1 to 500. In other words, for every dollar that’s spent promoting fresh fruits and vegetables 500 is spent promoting junk food,” he said.

Just a handful of corporations, he said, control much of the global food market. It raises the question, he said, of what’s considered normal eating?

“You have kids growing up who think it is normal to be drinking 32 ounces of soda⁷, basically sugar and empty calories. Children who are disconnected from where their food comes from and who are being raised in some very unhealthy eating habits.” He said.

Evidence can clearly be found in the United States.

‘One in three children who were born in the year 2000 will develop type 2 diabetes. And if we’re talking about children of people of color like myself then that’s near a one in two children will develop type 2 diabetes,” Patel.

Symptoms include increased thirst, fatigue⁸, weight loss, blurred⁹ vision, sores that heal slowly and frequent infections. It can lead to cardiovascular disease, nerve, kidney, eye and foot damage. The main treatment is diet and exercise.

Patel said it’s happening in India, one of the emerging economies.

“India is a country that’s suffering [from] an epidemic¹⁰ of hunger at the same time as an epidemic of the kinds of disease that used to only happen in rich economies,” he said.

Modern diets, he said, are often very different from what our ancestors ate.

“If you excavate¹¹ [a] Stone Age fireside, you don’t see empty packets of chips there. These chips are very new. The kinds of food that we eat today are in large part engineered and processed -- the foods that are rich in salt and fat and sugar. Those are the things our bodies are wired to crave¹² and those are the things that are profitable to sell,” he said.

But he said there is hope for better nutrition.

“There’s an amazing kind of rebirth of the food movement in the United States and around the world of people who are excited to be reconnecting with growing their own food, with eating locally and sustainably and organically. And that’s a fight that’s well worth talking about as well, because it’s a way of reducing some of the problems associated with diabetes – the diseases of the modern food system,” he said.

What’s more, he said, consumers and communities in the U.S. and elsewhere are realizing they have a health and economic crisis on their hands linked to diet. He says they’re taking action by defining their own food and agriculture policies.

1 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。

2 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。

3 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

4 wielding   

手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的现在分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响）

参考例句：

• The rebels were wielding sticks of dynamite. 叛乱分子舞动着棒状炸药。
• He is wielding a knife. 他在挥舞着一把刀。

5 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

6 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

7 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

8 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

9 blurred   

v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离

参考例句：

• She suffered from dizziness and blurred vision. 她饱受头晕目眩之苦。
• Their lazy, blurred voices fell pleasantly on his ears. 他们那种慢吞吞、含糊不清的声音在他听起来却很悦耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 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。

11 excavate   

vt.挖掘，挖出

参考例句：

• They plan to excavate a large hole.他们计划挖个大洞。
• A new Danish expedition is again excavating the site in annual summer digs.一支新的丹麦探险队又在那个遗址上进行一年一度的夏季挖掘。

12 crave   

vt.渴望得到，迫切需要，恳求，请求

参考例句：

• Many young children crave attention.许多小孩子渴望得到关心。
• You may be craving for some fresh air.你可能很想呼吸呼吸新鲜空气。