联邦救助帮助纽约负担不起食物的工薪阶层

联邦救助帮助纽约负担不起食物的工薪阶层

It is Christmas time at the South Bronx apartment of Jose and Oleyda Gutierrez.

在布朗克斯南部公寓中生活的约瑟和奥莱德娅·古特雷兹现在已经迎来了圣诞。

Their spirits are high, the food budget is low.

他们对这个节日热情很高，但食物预算却很低。

Jose is the sole income producer working at a restaurant employee for minimum wage plus minimal¹ tips.

在一家餐馆打工，赚取着最低工资及微薄小费的约瑟是家中唯一的收入来源。

“The money we make is not enough, we cannot afford to buy enough food because at the end of the month,sometimes even at the end of the week, Thursday or Friday, the refrigerator is almost empty or sometimes empty. We cannot afford to have meat or different things. We have basic things like beans, rice, milk, eggs. We want to have something else like a little treat. It is not possible.”

“我们赚的钱不多，负担不起足够多的食物。因为到了月底，有时甚至是到了周末，周四或周五时，冰箱就空空荡荡了。”我们负担不起肉或别的食物。我们只能买豆类，大米，牛奶，鸡蛋这些最基本的。我们也想买点别的东西改善生活，但这是不可能的。

The federal nutritional² “food stamp” assistance program helps poor family with some basics.

而联邦的营养“食品券”援助帮助到这些贫困家庭，为他们提供必需品。

With significance cuts pass will looming³ federal budget and nutritious⁴ diet may be a thing of past for the working poor.

随着财政支出的大幅削减，对于贫困的工薪阶层而言营养餐可能会成为过去式。

Philomena Acebedo is coordinator⁵ for the New York City Coalition⁶ Against Hunger,“Even though they are working, they still need food stamps because it is not enough. Whatever they earn, they have to pay their rent, and, whatever they have left, it is not enough to put on their table.”

纽约市反饥饿联盟协调员菲利奥纳·阿博德说道：“就算他们都在工作，还是需要食品券，因为挣得钱远不够家庭支出。不管他们怎么赚钱，都要付房租，而剩下的钱不够买吃的。”

In West Harlem, the poor and the hungry line up outside the Food Bank for New York City's community kitchen and food pantry.

而在西哈林区，穷人及饿着肚子的人群正在纽约的社区厨房和食物储备机构食物银行外排起了长队等等接受援助。

Margarette Purvis is president and CEO：“We serve families, and to be in the city, most of those families are going to have to work, and they do.

该机构主席兼CEO的马格雷特·普维斯说道:“我们为这些有困难的家庭送去爱心，而且纽约，这些家庭大多数都在找工作或是正在工作。

They work every day, they work hard for their living.

他们每天都去工作，努力工作养家糊口。

Unfortunately, they don't make enough to actually cover the rent and the food and the child care expenses.”

但不幸的是，他们赚的钱不足以支付房屋、伙食费用及抚养子女。

Across the city, Food Bank for New York City distributes 120 free meals every minute.

纽约城的食物银行每分钟免费发放120份食物。

Previous cuts to the federal nutrition program two years ago cost the city 5.3 meals a month.

而营养补充援助计划于2年前的开支削减使得这座城市每个月减少5.3份食物。

Many of those meals were targeted for working families.

大多数食物都分给了工薪阶级家庭。

Still, the White House says that in 2014, over 2 million children benefited from food stamps,impacting their lives well beyond their childhood years.

即使这样，白宫表示2014年食品券让200万儿童受益，影响了他们的生活，甚至超过整个童年时光。

The study cites⁷ benefits for health, education and economic self-sufficiency.

这项研究表明这个项目对人民健康、教育及经济自给自足都大有益处。

In New York, the benefits have been available to 400,000 preschool-aged children.

就纽约市而言，这个项目正帮助40万名学前儿童。

Meantime, back in the Gutierrez apartment, Christmas is very much on the minds of the two children and of course on their parents.

同时在古特雷兹家中，圣诞节对于2个孩子还有他们的家长而言都是意义非凡。

The father reviews the children desires toy lists.

这位父亲看着孩子们希望得到的圣诞节玩具清单。

“Most of the Christmas they want, I know I cannot afford all of them，but I'm going to make sure they're going to have a Merry Christmas.”

“我不能满足他们的大多数圣诞愿望，但是我会保证他们过一个快乐的圣诞节。”

 

Jose says he will buy two youngest kids gifts as soon as he gets his next paycheck,but he is worried it would not be enough to many gifts or enough for holiday food.

约瑟表示他拿到下个月的薪水后会立刻给2个最小的孩子买圣诞礼物，他也担忧可能买不了很多礼物，而且圣诞大餐也不会太丰盛。”

1 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

2 nutritional   

adj.营养的，滋养的

参考例句：

• A diet lacking in nutritional value will not keep a person healthy.缺乏营养价值的饮食不能维持人的健康。
• The labels on food products give a lot of information about their nutritional content.食品上的标签提供很多关于营养成分的信息。

3 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

4 nutritious   

adj.有营养的，营养价值高的

参考例句：

• Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。

5 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

6 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

7 cites   

引用( cite的第三人称单数 )； 传唤； 记起； [军事]传（或通）令嘉奖

参考例句：

• CITES is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. CITES是关于濒危野生动植物种国际贸易的国际公约。
• Great bustard (Otis tarda) is listed as a first-rating protected bird in China and CITES II. 大鸨(Otistarda)是国家级保护动物，CITES附录物种。