万花筒 2008-06-02&-06-03 有机食品命不久矣？

For some time now, there has been a growing market in Britain for organic food. But with the credit crunch¹ forcing thrifty² shoppers to cut back and with food prices generally rocketing, could our love for organics be starting to wilt³?

 

During her pregnancy⁴ with Amelia, Pen Turnbull made sure every item of food she bought was organic. But recently, like other shoppers we spoke⁵ to, that’s changed.

 

“Especially with sort of store cupped-type foods, so cereals and honey and things like that. I’m no longer buying organic and trying to keep the fruit and vegetables mainly organic.” 

 

“And anecdotally for your all friends, people you know, other moms, is it a similar scenario⁶?”

 

“Yeah, definitely in the playgroups and NCT meetings that everybody’s starting to notice the difference.”

 

Figures compiled for Sky News show the organics market has grown steadily⁷ over the last decade. This year, April is the first month to show a downturn on the year before. But what will be really telling is what happens to organic sales in the months to come.

 

The fact is organic food is generally more expensive. Take chicken for example. We worked out the average price of two chicken breasts weighing 500 grams from the Big Four supermarkets. The organic option would cost you 8.45 pounds, the next best thing; the premium⁸ version would set you back 6.22 pounds. While the value chicken, one of the meal stuff, would cost 3.68 pounds. So have the super markets noticed any difference of the tilts⁹?

 

“I think the interesting thing to watch over the next year is the rate of that growth compared to previous years, where we are seeing price becoming a much bigger factor than it's been in previous years.”

 

Advocates of the organic movement say retailers¹⁰ have yet to report any falloff in sales. And despite the critics, they believe organic farming can still feed the world.

 

“The main thing that's driving up the price of food in the long run is the price of oil, because most food is produced from oil-based fertilizer. Organic food's produced from the sun’s energy. So actually, organic food is less prone¹¹ to these price rises than non-organic food.”

 

But with food inflation forecast to rise even higher, the proof in the organic pudding will be what happens at the check-outs over the next few months.

 

Catherine Jacob, Sky News.

 

1 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

2 thrifty   

adj.节俭的；兴旺的；健壮的

参考例句：

• Except for smoking and drinking,he is a thrifty man.除了抽烟、喝酒，他是个生活节俭的人。
• She was a thrifty woman and managed to put aside some money every month.她是个很会持家的妇女，每月都设法存些钱。

3 wilt   

v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱

参考例句：

• Golden roses do not wilt and will never need to be watered.金色的玫瑰不枯萎绝也不需要浇水。
• Several sleepless nights made him wilt.数个不眠之夜使他憔悴。

4 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

5 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。

6 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。

7 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

8 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

9 tilts   

（意欲赢得某物或战胜某人的）企图，尝试( tilt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• As the kitten touches it, it tilts at the floor. 它随着击碰倾侧，头不动，眼不动，还呆呆地注视着地上。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译
• The two writers had a number of tilts in print. 这两位作家写过一些文章互相攻击。

10 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

11 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。