美国国家公共电台 NPR Why Food Reformers Have Mixed Feelings About Eco-Labels

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We are what we eat, right? Food companies know that, so they make labels that appeal to a person's ideals - organic or cage-free, fair trade. NPR's Dan Charles looked into these labels for our Life Kit¹ podcast, and he found out some people who depend on these labels also have mixed feelings.

DAN CHARLES, BYLINE²: Rebecca Thistlethwaite has spent most of her life trying to build a better food system.

REBECCA THISTLETHWAITE: I am the program manager of the Niche³ Meat Processor Assistance Network.

CHARLES: She helps people figure out how to make a living farming in a way that's good for the environment and humane⁴ for animals.

THISTLETHWAITE: I would never do away with labels. I think that farmers and food producers need to be able to tell their story.

CHARLES: And the words organic or pasture-raised can help tell the story, yet labels frustrate⁵ her. There can be such a gap between what they seem to promise and what they actually deliver. And marketing⁶ fills that gap. So for instance, free-range eggs - probably came from hens that spent most of their lives indoors. Or another example - non-GMO.

THISTLETHWAITE: (Laughter) I'm going to say, offhand⁷, that is probably my least favorite label.

CHARLES: Non-GMO means the food wasn't made from genetically⁸ modified crops. The main ones are corn, soybeans and sugar beets⁹. But companies are putting non-GMO on things like strawberries or mangoes that aren't ever genetically modified. Apparently¹⁰ because people think non-GMO means good for the environment, maybe less pesticide¹¹ spray. But it does not.

THISTLETHWAITE: Non-GMO crops are still conventionally grown with synthetic¹² pesticides¹³ and fertilizers. There's no significant environmental benefit.

CHARLES: On the other hand, organic really does mean no synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. Matthew Dillon, who is director of agriculture policy for the Clif Bar company, thinks that's the most trustworthy ecolabel.

MATTHEW DILLON: It's fully¹⁴ transparent¹⁵. It's enforced by law. It's got teeth to it.

CHARLES: But the organic industry also over-promises, he says. It's not really clear that organic food is healthier for you, the consumer.

DILLON: It makes a difference primarily to farmers, to rural communities, to soil health, to animal welfare.

CHARLES: And finally, there's an even deeper problem with labels. It came up when I was talking with Kim Elena Ionescu, chief sustainability officer for the Specialty¹⁶ Coffee Association. We were talking about the benefits of fair-trade coffee.

KIM ELENA IONESCU: You're strengthening smallholder farmer cooperatives. And there's a minimum price guaranteed, regardless of the volatility¹⁷ in the market.

CHARLES: And chances are you're making somebody's life better.

IONESCU: I hope so.

CHARLES: You don't sound super convinced.

IONESCU: Well, that's where I feel like the marketing piece gets tricky¹⁸.

CHARLES: The problem, she says, is maybe that minimum price just isn't enough to lift a small coffee producer out of poverty.

IONESCU: I mean, it's possible that that producer has a very small amount of land, and there is no price high enough to make that tiny plot of land a viable¹⁹ economic support system for the family.

CHARLES: Or as Rebecca Thistlethwaite put it...

THISTLETHWAITE: Labels are - they're like Band-Aids. They're just superficial kind of feel-good solutions to systemic problems.

CHARLES: Those ecolabels like, organic or grass-fed - they may not preserve much wildlife habitat or slow down global warming, which seems kind of depressing. But Matthew Dillon at Clif Bar says it shouldn't be. Consumers, actually, should feel relieved.

DILLON: They should, first of all, understand that improving the food system is not all on them, that they shouldn't feel guilt²⁰ and shame about the purchases they make.

CHARLES: Our individual shopping decisions are not going to solve these big problems, he says. But political decisions really could, like environmental regulations. He says that's what we ought to be focusing on.

Dan Charles, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF DEFT'S "FALL")

1 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

4 humane   

adj.人道的，富有同情心的

参考例句：

• Is it humane to kill animals for food?宰杀牲畜来吃合乎人道吗？
• Their aim is for a more just and humane society.他们的目标是建立一个更加公正、博爱的社会。

5 frustrate   

v.使失望；使沮丧；使厌烦

参考例句：

• But this didn't frustrate Einstein.He was content to go as far as he could.但这并没有使爱因斯坦灰心，他对能够更深入地研究而感到满意。
• They made their preparations to frustrate the conspiracy.他们作好准备挫败这个阴谋。

6 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

7 offhand   

adj.临时，无准备的；随便，马虎的

参考例句：

• I can't answer your request offhand.我不能随便答复你的要求。
• I wouldn't want to say what I thought about it offhand.我不愿意随便说我关于这事的想法。

8 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物

9 beets   

甜菜( beet的名词复数 )； 甜菜根； （因愤怒、难堪或觉得热而）脸红

参考例句：

• Beets are Hank's favorite vegetable. 甜菜根是汉克最爱吃的蔬菜。
• In this enlargement, barley, alfalfa, and sugar beets can be differentiated. 在这张放大的照片上，大麦，苜蓿和甜菜都能被区分开。

10 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

11 pesticide   

n.杀虫剂，农药

参考例句：

• The pesticide was spread over the vegetable plot.菜田里撒上了农药。
• This pesticide is diluted with water and applied directly to the fields.这种杀虫剂用水稀释后直接施用在田里。

12 synthetic   

adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品

参考例句：

• We felt the salesman's synthetic friendliness.我们感觉到那位销售员的虚情假意。
• It's a synthetic diamond.这是人造钻石。

13 pesticides   

n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 )；除害药物

参考例句：

• vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
• There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

15 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

16 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

17 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

18 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

19 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

20 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。