VOA标准英语2011--California Company Helps Extend Reach of

California Company Helps Extend Reach of Fresh-Grown Food

A growing number of Americans grow fruit and vegetables at home in their own gardens. These small plots let gardeners savor¹ the flavor of fresh-picked produce and improve their diet. One company in Los Angeles helps new gardeners get started.
Los Angeles homeowner Robert Smith gets tangy peppers and tasty tomatoes by walking into his front yard.
"The biggest benefit is great food," said Smith. "I still go to the market and I still will buy other things. You can't grow everything that you might get used to eating for certain recipes, but the taste out of the food that I can grow here , especially like right now the tomatoes are just amazing."
At an exclusive Japanese restaurant in Los Angeles called N/Naka, owner and chef Niki Nakayama says fresh seasonal² ingredients are the key to great dishes. She grows many specialized³ vegetables for her restaurant and says the taste is worth it, despite the added work.
"I knew this was something that I wanted [for] our restaurant and I wanted to learn," said Nakayama. "And I know that it's going to be a lot of hands-on work."
Nakayama and Smith are both learning to plant seeds and cultivate their gardens with help from gardening expert Dan Allen, who is both a gardener and the chief financial officer of Farmscape. He says these vegetables are organic, grown with natural methods and tender care.
"And because we're not growing them for commercial distribution, we can grow varieties that are designed to taste good and not to ship well or have the right shape to stack efficiently⁴ on supermarket shelves," said Allen.
He says there are three things any garden needs.
“Sun, water and soil are the three key ingredients to getting a garden to grow effectively," he said.
Allen says that means positioning the plants so they get the right amount of sun, creating an efficient irrigation system and conditioning the soil by mixing in organic material as natural fertilizer.
Allen says most people who use his company's service want better-tasting food. But he notes that in Los Angeles, there are community gardens and gardening plots at schools that extend the reach of fresh-grown food to the inner city.
"How do we get food to lower-income communities that maybe don't have access to the sorts of grocery stores where they would normally go to buy their food? And one thing that we've been advocating in that context is, we don't look at how to purchase food in those communities, but also how to grow it there," said Allen.
Allen says gardening takes skill, knowledge and careful cultivation⁵. But he says the effort is worth it and that more people are discovering the joys of growing and eating their own fruit and vegetables.

1 savor   

vt.品尝，欣赏；n.味道，风味；情趣，趣味

参考例句：

• The soup has a savor of onion.这汤有洋葱味。
• His humorous remarks added a savor to our conversation.他幽默的话语给谈话增添了风趣。

2 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

3 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

4 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

5 cultivation   

n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成

参考例句：

• The cultivation in good taste is our main objective.培养高雅情趣是我们的主要目标。
• The land is not fertile enough to repay cultivation.这块土地不够肥沃，不值得耕种。