英国卫报：垃圾食品盛行 我们如何吃得更健康?(2)

British politicians, as a rule, have shown little interest in tackling the problem of poor-quality food and its relationship to health.

英国的政治家们，一般说来，对解决劣质食品问题及其与居民健康的关系没有太大兴趣。

These policy failures go back to the 19th century.

这些政策上的失败可以追溯到19世纪。

Our early Industrial Revolution meant that a larger percentage of the population lost its connection with agriculture at an earlier stage than in any other country.

我们早期的工业革命意味着有更大比例的人口很早就失去了与农业的联系，这比任何其他国家都早。

When it comes to food policy, there has long been an attitude of leave it to the market (the shining exception being the two world wars, when the constraints¹ of rationing² forced governments to join the dots on food and health).

说到食品政策，长期以来人们都想把它交给市场来决定（两次世界大战是明显的例外，当时配给制的限制迫使政府将食品和健康联系在一起）。

Campaigners against the grossly adulterated food supply in Victorian times sometimes complained that the selling of food in London operated on buyer beware principles, which meant that grocers were free to sell poisonous pickles³ and fake coffee to an unsuspecting public without fear of retribution.

维多利亚时代反对食品供应掺假的运动者有时会抱怨说，伦敦的食品销售按照 "买者自负 "的原则运作，这意味着杂货商可以自由地向毫无戒心的公众出售有毒的咸菜和假咖啡而不必担心报复。

Not much has changed, except that instead of poisonous pickles, we are sold a surfeit⁴ of ultra-processed food.

现在和当时变化并不大，只是我们卖的不再是有毒的腌菜，而是大量的超加工食品。

Recent English obesity⁵ policies have spoken endlessly of action to help people eat healthier diets, but what they deliver, often as not, is another raft of patronising diet information leaflets, such as the bright yellow Change4Life diet pamphlets handed out in schools and GP surgeries.

最近英国的肥胖政策不停谈论帮助人们吃更健康的饮食行动，但他们提供的往往是另一种替代性食物的信息传单，如在学校和全科医生手术室分发的亮黄色封面的Change4Life饮食小册子。

(One uninspiring gem⁶: If you're shopping for packaged snacks for your children, try sticking to 100 calorie snacks.)

(一个不那么令人愉快的诀窍：如果你要给孩子买包装零食，试着坚持选购能量接近100卡路里的零食）。

For three decades, Theis and White found, successive governments have repeatedly proposed similar or identical policies and then not done anything to see them through.

西斯和怀特发现，三十年来，历届政府反复提出类似甚至相同的政策，却没有采取任何行动来贯彻这些政策。

What counts as an obesity policy could be anything from a plan of action to a statement of intent.

肥胖症政策可以是任何东西，从行动计划到意向声明。

Whichever party has been in charge, the most popular policies have been ones placing high demands on individuals to make personal changes (such as the 5 a day campaign) rather than meaningful reforms such as restricting the sale of unhealthy foods, or subsidising fruits and vegetables to make them more affordable⁷.

无论哪个政党执政，最受民众欢迎的肥胖政策都对个人提出了很高的要求，要求他们做出个人改变（比如每天5个小时的运动），而不是进行有意义的改革，比如限制不健康食品的销售，或者对水果和蔬菜进行补贴，使其价格更低。

Most of the ideas for structural⁸ interventions⁹ for example, that the food industry should reformulate its unhealthiest products were voluntary.

大多数结构性干预的想法，例如，食品工业应该调整其最不健康的产品配方，都是一厢情愿的说法。

Unsurprisingly, compliance¹⁰ was not high.

不足为奇的是，服从率并不高。

One of the few exceptions has been the Soft Drinks Industry Levy¹¹ (AKA Sugar Tax) of 2018, which resulted in a 30g a week drop in household sugar consumption, but I suspect that this will turn out to be a pyrrhic victory given evidence that consuming aspartame, the artificial sweetener used in many diet drinks, also causes weight gain as well as possibly altering the gut¹² microbiome.

为数不多的例外之一是2018年的软饮料行业征税（又称糖税），这导致家庭每周糖消费量下降30克，但我怀疑这将是一个付出过高代价的微小胜利，因为有证据表明，食用阿斯巴甜（许多减肥饮料中使用的人工甜味剂）也会导致体重增加，并可能改变肠道微生物组。

1 constraints   

强制( constraint的名词复数 )； 限制； 约束

参考例句：

• Data and constraints can easily be changed to test theories. 信息库中的数据和限制条件可以轻易地改变以检验假设。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• What are the constraints that each of these imply for any design? 这每种产品的要求和约束对于设计意味着什么？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

2 rationing   

n.定量供应

参考例句：

• Wartime austerities included food rationing and shortage of fuel. 战时的艰苦包括食物配给和燃料短缺。
• Food rationing was abolished in that country long ago. 那个国家早就取消了粮食配给制。

3 pickles   

n.腌菜( pickle的名词复数 )；处于困境；遇到麻烦；菜酱

参考例句：

• Most people eat pickles at breakfast. 大多数人早餐吃腌菜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I want their pickles and wines, and that.' 我要他们的泡菜、美酒和所有其他东西。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛

4 surfeit   

v.使饮食过度；n.(食物)过量，过度

参考例句：

• The voters are pretty sick of such a surfeit of primary sloganeering.选民们对于初选时没完没了地空喊口号的现象感到发腻了。
• A surfeit of food makes one sick.饮食过量使人生病。

5 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。

6 gem   

n.宝石，珠宝；受爱戴的人 [同]jewel

参考例句：

• The gem is beyond my pocket.这颗宝石我可买不起。
• The little gem is worth two thousand dollars.这块小宝石价值两千美元。

7 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

8 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

9 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网

10 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

11 levy   

n.征收税或其他款项，征收额

参考例句：

• They levy a tax on him.他们向他征税。
• A direct food levy was imposed by the local government.地方政府征收了食品税。

12 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。