VOA标准英语2013--Putting Slurplus Food to Good Use

 

Putting Slurplus Food to Good Use

Every Monday, about 150 people line up in the parking lot of Christian¹ Life Center in Prince George’s County, Maryland.  Joan Oswald, whose family has lived in an emergency homeless shelter since April, got here early.

“I had a lot of difficulties finding help with food. But since I met pastor² Slye, we don’t have to worry about food for my family. Every day there is food in my refrigerator," Oswald said.

Everyone in line receives bread and a full bag of produce weighing more than five kilos. 

“Everything is free. That is why you have a line here. Everybody is hurting right now.  Everybody has a need no matter what background you are from,” said.

pastor Ben Slye, who  runs Christian Life Center.

He began the weekly food distribution to low-income residents in the Washington suburbs a year and a half ago.  Every Monday, he rents a refrigerated truck to pick up fruits and vegetables from the two largest produce companies on the east coast, Taylor Farms and Coastal³ Sunbelt Produce.

“It is approximately around 20,000 pounds [9,000 kilograms] per week. It could be sometimes we receive just 5,000. Today we will receive up to 40 to 50,000 pounds [18,000 to 23,000 kilograms] of fresh produce between the two organizations,” Slye said

The program began when Slye was told about the huge amount of produce sitting in warehouses⁴ with nowhere to go. 

“We sell millions of cases of fresh fruits and vegetables every year.  Sometimes we have a little leftover⁵.  The quality standards of our customers are very high.  So if the produce gets a couple of days old, maybe we can’t sell it to our customers, but we certainly don’t want it to go to waste,” said James McWhorter, a vice⁶ president of Coastal Sunbelt Produce. 

If the surplus produce doesn’t get picked up, McWhorter says, the company has to throw it out.

"Best case scenario⁷, it will go to be composted. Worst case scenario, it will go to the landfill,” he said.

About 40 percent of all the food produced in the US is wasted, according to a recent report by the National Resources Defense⁸ Council.

“It is a huge waste both monetarily⁹ and environmentally. We estimated that about $165 billion every year was wasted on food that we never eat.” said Bob Keefe, the council'ss spokesman.

Back at the Christian Life Center, about 20 local non-profit groups take Slye's leftovers¹⁰ to distribute.

“Vegetables are hard to get.  You can get all the bread, but vegetables are really hard to get. Very thankful,” Lombardo said.

“A lot of families are living paycheck to paycheck, so they are not having to buy those expensive vegetables.  It is a pretty good thing for them,” said Dana Duncan, of the Bladensburg police department

Slye says it is a blessing¹¹ to be able to reduce food waste and help feed people in need.

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

3 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

4 warehouses   

仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee. 威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• Row upon row of newly built warehouses line the waterfront. 江岸新建的仓库鳞次栉比。

5 leftover   

n.剩货，残留物，剩饭；adj.残余的

参考例句：

• These narrow roads are a leftover from the days of horse-drawn carriages.这些小道是从马车时代沿用下来的。
• Wonder if that bakery lets us take leftover home.不知道那家糕饼店会不会让我们把卖剩的带回家。

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

7 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 monetarily   

adv.金融地

参考例句：

10 leftovers   

n.剩余物，残留物，剩菜

参考例句：

• He can do miracles with a few kitchen leftovers.他能用厨房里几样剩饭做出一顿美餐。
• She made supper from leftovers she had thrown together.她用吃剩的食物拼凑成一顿晚饭。

11 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。