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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Hari Sreenviasan: If there's one thing most Americans know about Iowa, it's that it's farm country. Less well known is that roughly half of Iowa farmland is owned or co-owned by women. Special Correspondent Mark Bittman sat down with farm-owner and educator Jean Eells to learn more about the growing role women are playing in Iowa's agriculture now – and in its future. This report is part of our "Future of Food" series, supported by the Pulitzer Center.
Mark Bittman: Jean Eells is an Iowa landowner and educator.
Jean Eells: So I grew up on a small farm in Iowa. I ended up being appointed to the state Soil Conservation Committee and heard a presentation that really blew me away. I learned that women own or co-own half the land in Iowa. And yet I didn't see them active as conservationists, and that–I was curious about that. How could that be?
Mark Bittman: Eells learned that many women farm-owners have no experience farming themselves. They hire tenants1 to do it – most of them men.
So 1998 Eells co-founded an organization called The Women, Food and Agriculture Network. She holds meetings with other women landowners in Iowa and across the country, teaching them about land conservation and the role the women could potentially play in making sure their farmer-tenants are implementing2 sustainable practices. She's held more than 250 meetings since 2009 – educating more than 3800 female landowners.
Jean Eells: One of the things that we find is that they have a real deep seated concern for the community, for their farmers, for their family. And they really want to keep the land. And yet they don't necessarily get to express that caring and concern because you just don't talk about those things.
Mark Bittman: She says that's mostly because of decades old tradition: Men farm. Men make decisions about the land. And women are not involved, even when it's their land. They can have tremendous influence because they actually own this land.
Jean Eells: When I talk to men about this they're like it's your land. What's the big deal? it's your land. And there's a lot heavier lift for women in that particular setting. So if you think about women my age in particular. We weren't encouraged necessarily to go into science. The men make the farming decisions you know about what you're going to plant in the seed and all that kind of stuff. We talked to women all the time that feel like they don't have a right to do those things.
Mark Bittman: It's really a conversation about how do you, how are you changing gender3 roles or how are you getting men who have spent their entire lives acting4 and–for want of a better term — a sexist manner to like be more respectful of the women they are dealing5 with?
Jean Eells: Yeah. I'm holding out hope that if we change the conversation, and give women a place at the table something's going to change, it's just going to it's gonna have to.
Mark Bittman: In all-female meetings, Eels6 teaches conservation practices. They include: Planting a buffer7 along the edge of a creek8, to protect waterways from harmful chemical fertilizers … and planting what are known as "prairie strips" which keep roots in the ground year round and brings plant diversity and wildlife to the land
Jean Eells: We know that 50 to 70 percent of the women who come to a one day meeting will take an action to improve conservation on their land.
Mark Bittman: That's kind of great.
Jean Eells: It's huge. To have them make a big change and have it be transformative is just. I mean that's sheer joy as an educator. We always just talk about farmers. They're not the only decision makers9 out there that can make that difference. We've got to change how we talk about the landscape.
哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：要说爱荷华州有什么地方是大多数美国人熟知的话，那就是这里是农业大州。还有一个事实是较少人知道的：爱荷华州近半数的农田都是女性所有或女性与他人共有的。我台特约记者马克·比德曼向农场主兼教育家珍·伊尔斯了解了女性对爱荷华州农业发挥作用越来越大的事儿，以及女性对未来发挥更大作用的事儿。本期报道是《未来粮食》系列的部分内容，由普利策中心赞助播出。
马克·比德曼：珍·伊尔斯是爱荷华州的一名农场这，也是一位教育家。
珍·伊尔斯：我在爱荷华州的一个小农场长大。后来，我被派到我们州的水土保持委员会，听到了一个讲座，让我印象深刻。我了解到爱荷华州近半数的农田都是女性所有或女性与他人共有的。不过，我觉得他们不是积极的环境保护主义者，我对这件事很好奇。为什么会这样呢？
马克·比德曼：伊尔斯了解到很多女性农场主都没有开农场的经验。他们会雇佣租户来做——大多数租户都是男性。于是，1998年，伊尔斯与他人联合成立了一个名为“女性、粮食、农业网络”的组织。伊尔斯跟爱荷华州乃至全国范围内的很多女性农场主见面，教大家如何保护土地，让大家明白女性在确保租户正确使用土地这件事情上可以发挥多么大的作用。自2009年以来，她已经250次会见这些女性——为3800多名女性农场主提供了培训。
珍·伊尔斯：我们还发现——女性对社群、农民和家人都有着根深蒂固的关切。她们希望能维持土壤的良好状态。但她们没机会表达这样的关切，因为你们根本不会跟她们聊这些。
马克·比德曼：她说这大概是因为天长日久的传统了——男性务农。男性做着与土地有关的决定。而女性不参与其中，哪怕土地是属于女性的。女性可以产生很大的作用，因为女性是土地的所有者。
珍·伊尔斯：每当我和男性聊起这个的时候，他们的反应就是——这是你的地，有什么大不了的吗？这地又不会凭空跑到我手上。在这个特别的设定下，女性有更大的重担要承担。尤其是如果你想一下像我这个年纪的女性——没有人会鼓励我们去学习科学知识。男性会做与务农有关的决定，比如用种子种什么东西之类的。我们跟一些女性聊过后，感觉她们都没有权利做这样的事情一样。
马克·比德曼：这个对话其实是关于如何转变性别角色的，也是关于如何让一直都在扮演主导角色的男性——我想用一个更好的词语来形容——一个习惯于俯视女性的性别去学会更加尊重他们所面对的女性。
珍·伊尔斯：没错。我也希望我们能改变谈话的方式，让女性有改变事物的发言权，希望这能成为一种必然。
马克·比德曼：在都是女性的会面中，伊尔斯也会教大家谈话的实用内容。包括但不限于：在溪流边缘的地方放置缓冲器，保护水道不受化肥的危害。在草原地带种植可以为草原带来多样性，因为草原可以保护根部。
珍·伊尔斯：我们了解到，50%-70%的参会女性会采取行动来保护土壤。
马克·比德曼：这也太棒了吧。
珍·伊尔斯：让女性作出重大的变革性改变是很大的进展。这对一名教育家来说是纯粹的快乐。我们经常会谈论农业。这不是唯一一个可以产生作用的决定。对于地貌的讨论方式，也会做出改变。
收听单词发音 |
1
tenants
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| n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者 | |
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implementing
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| v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效 | |
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gender
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| n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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eels
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| abbr. 电子发射器定位系统（=electronic emitter location system） | |
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buffer
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| n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲 | |
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creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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makers
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| n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式） | |
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