VOA标准英语2013--More Land Being Used for Organic Farming

 

More Land Being Used for Organic Farming

More land around the world is being dedicated¹ to organic farming. The Worldwatch Institute says since 1999 there’s been a more than three-fold increase to 37 million hectares.

“Organic farming is farming without chemical inputs², like pesticides³ and fertilizers. Instead of using those inputs it uses a variety of natural techniques, like rotating crops and applying compost to fields – and growing crops that will return nutrients⁴ to the soil naturally instead of via chemicals,” said Worldwatch researcher Laura Reynolds, who co-authored a new report on the growth of organic agriculture.

She said it has a range of public health and environmental benefits.

“It delivers fewer pesticides and chemicals to what we eat and to the farmers growing the food. It also delivers a range of economic benefits to farmers growing organically because they found they can get a much higher price if their food is certified⁵ organic,” she said.

Last year, Stanford University researchers said that they “did not find strong evidence that organic foods are more nutritious⁶ or carry fewer health risks than conventional alternatives.” They based their findings on a review of previous studies on the subject.

Reynolds said, “I agree that it won’t change the nutritional⁷ content of certain foods, probably cereals. That’s not the entire point of growing organically. If you look at chemicals and toxic⁸ elements in the food, there’s definitely a huge difference. So, if you’re getting all of your nutrients, but you’re also eating chemicals, then you sort of want to know the whole story. I found that that report looked at a very small element or organic food.”

Worldwatch says the Oceania region has most of the certified organic agricultural land – more than 12 million hectares spread over Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Island nations. Europe is next with 10 million hectares, followed by Latin America with 8.4 million. Asia has about three million hectares devoted⁹ to organic farming and Africa about one million.

The study says the United States has “lagged behind other countries in adopting sustainable farming methods.” However, sales of organic foods in the U.S. are rising rapidly, amounting to $31.5 billion in 2011.

In order to be certified organic, farmers must keep strict records of how they grow their crops. There’s a lot of red tape or bureaucracy involved and it can be an expensive process.

“Certifications are growing as there are a lot more companies or third parties that are doing certifications. There’s a whole range in the U.S. and it’s becoming more popular internationally, as well. As farmers see that there’s a niche¹⁰ organic market, they can get more money for their food than if they grew it conventionally. I’d say that sales of organic food are growing perhaps faster than the actual acreage that’s devoted to organic. In the U.S., it’s one of the fastest growing markets,” she said.

Reynolds said that organic farming methods are proving their worth during climate change.

“Organic farming involves a lot of different techniques that deliver nutrients to the soil and help the soil conserve¹¹ water, which is going to be very key in climate affected¹² areas. Climate change involves more widespread droughts and more temperature variations – extreme heat waves – and plants often cannot stand up to that pressure. But if land is farmed organically, a lot of those techniques will help farmers very much stand up to climate change,” she said.

Those techniques include using mulch or growing naturally heat resistant¹³ crops or crops that have extensive root systems.

Reynolds said that organic farming is just one element of food security.

“We already grow enough food to feed everyone in the world. It’s more now a matter of disseminating¹⁴ that food, making it accessible and affordable¹⁵ to people. While organic food can definitely help long-term sustainability of food production, it’s definitely just one piece of the puzzle of making food available to everyone. It’s also important to bear in mind what you grow organically. If you’re applying organic methods to grow millions of acres of corn or soybeans, that’s not really going to help food security on a global scale,” she said.

As more farmers grow organic foods and competition increases, she said, prices should fall.

The Worldwatch Institute report says that sustainable food production will become more important in developing countries, “as the majority of population growth is concentrated in the world’s poorest countries.” 

Despite the increase in land dedicated to organic farming, the total represents just under one-percent of global agricultural land.

1 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

2 inputs   

n.输入( input的名词复数 )；投入；输入端；输入的数据v.把…输入电脑( input的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Uncheck the inputs checked for optimization in the previous stage. 不测试那些已经测试过的优化了的以前步骤的inputs.（变量参数）。 来自互联网
• Just in case, save in a file the inputs obtained at the previous stage. 以防万一，保存以前步骤获得的inputs（变量参数值）到一个文件中去。 来自互联网

3 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》

4 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

6 nutritious   

adj.有营养的，营养价值高的

参考例句：

• Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。

7 nutritional   

adj.营养的，滋养的

参考例句：

• A diet lacking in nutritional value will not keep a person healthy.缺乏营养价值的饮食不能维持人的健康。
• The labels on food products give a lot of information about their nutritional content.食品上的标签提供很多关于营养成分的信息。

8 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

9 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

10 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。

11 conserve   

vt.保存，保护，节约，节省，守恒，不灭

参考例句：

• He writes on both sides of the sheet to conserve paper.他在纸张的两面都写字以节省用纸。
• Conserve your energy,you'll need it!保存你的精力，你会用得着的！

12 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

13 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

14 disseminating   

散布，传播( disseminate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Our comrades in propaganda work have the task of disseminating Marxism. 我们作宣传工作的同志有一个宣传马克思主义的任务。
• Disseminating indecent photographs on the internet a distasteful act. 在因特网上发布不雅照片是卑劣的行径。

15 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。